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Jesus Gupesthe Blind Man 



le 173. 



TWO HUNDRED AND FIRST THOUSAND. 




PUBLISHED BY THE 

CHARLES FOSTER PUBLISHIJYG CO. 

No. 716 Sansom Street, 
PHILADELPHIA. PA. 



m^f^L 







THE CHILD JESUS IN THE TEMPLE. 



Copyright, 1881, by Charles Foster. 



Copyright, 1884, by Charles Foster. 



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PEEHAPS some persons wlio see this 
little book may have seeu a larger 
one called "The Story of the Bible." 
And because both of these books were 
written by the same person, and have 
names so much alike, they may think 
that this one is only a part of " The 
Story of the Bible," made into a smaller 
book. 

But it is not so. Though they are 
alike in many places, they are different 
in this: "The Stoey of the Gos- 
pel " is still easier to read and under- 
stand than " The Story of the Bible." 
If a person does not know how to read 
very well, it will be better for him to 
read " The Stoey or the Gospel " 
'first. 

Both of these books teach about the 
Bible, and they are meant to make the 
persons who read them want to read 
the Bible itself, so that they may learn, 
more perfectly, what God says to them 
in his Holy Word. 



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JESUS GIVES HIS APOSTLES THE BREAD AND WINE. 




JESUS IS CRUCIFIED. 




JESUS GOES UP TO HEAVEN. 




THE 



STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



CHAPTER I. 

GOD lives up in heaven where we cannot see 
him, but he looks down and sees us who 
live in this world. 

He sees everything we do, and hears every- 
thing we say, and knows even what we think. 
For He is the One who knows all things. 

It is God who made this world, and heaven, 
and everything in them. He made the sun to 



8 THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 



shine in the day, and the moon and the stars 
to shine in the night. 

He made the animals, the birds, and the 
fishes; the trees, the grass, and the flowers. 
And after he had made all these things, he 
made the first man. 

The name of the first man that God made 
was Adam, and the name of the first woman 
was Eye. There were no other persons in the 
world when God made them ; these two were 
all alone. 

And God planted a garden for Adam and 
Eve to live in. A garden, you know, is a beau- 
tiful place where flowers grow. But this 
garden, that God planted for Adam and Eve, 
was more beautiful, we suppose, than any other 
garden that was ever in the world. 

It was called the garden of Eden. It not 
only had flowers in it, but trees that bore fruit 
good to eat. There was some of every kind of 
fruit growing in the garden of Eden. 

And God told Adam and Eve they might 
eat of all these different kinds, except one. 
But of that one, he said, they must not eat, for 
if they did, they should surely die. This one 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 




tree was very little for 
them to go without, when 
|/ there were so many they 
t might have. 

And God told Adam 
and Eve the name of 
EDEN. this one tree; it was 

called the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and 
Evil. And he showed them the place where 
it grew in the garden, so that they should 
not forget it, or take any fruit off of it by 
mistake. 

I have told you that God lives up in heaven. 
But he does not live there alone. The angels 
live there with him. God made the angels to 



10 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



live with liim in heaven. They are not like 
us; they are always happy, for they never do 
wrong. They do only those things that God 
tells them to do. 

But we read in the Bible that, a great while 
ago, some of the angels did do wrong. They 
were not satisfied with the things that God 
gave them, and they were not willing to do 
as he told them. 

Then God sent them out of heaven and 
would let them live there no more. And these 
angels that were sent out of heaven are alive 
still, for angels, or spirits, never die. 

But now they are not good angels, like those 
who are living up in heaven with God. They 
are bad angels. The chief one among them is 
named Satan. He is their king, and they do 
as he tells them. 

And Satan and his bad angels will never go 
up to heaven again. For no one who is wicked 
can go there. But there is a day coming called 
the Judgment Day. On that day all who are 
wicked will be sent away to a place where 
they are to be punished. 

We are punished when we have to bear pain, 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 11 



or trouble, because we have done wrong. And 
at the Judgment Day, Satan and his bad angels 
will be sent away to be punished for all the 
wrong things they have done. The place they 
will be sent to is called hell. And Satan and 
his bad angels will stay there forever. 

But at the time I am now telling you about, 
when God made Adam and Eve and put them 
in the beautiful garden, Satan saw them there. 
And they were, both of them, very happy 
in the garden, because they were good and 
obeyed God, that is, did everything that God 
told them. 

And Satan saw that Adam and Eve were 
good and happy in the beautiful garden, and 
he was not pleased. For he is wicked and 
unhappy himself, and he wants every one else 
to be like him. 

So when God told them not to eat of that 
one tree which he showed them, Satan thought 
he would try and persuade them to eat of it, 
and disobey, or not mind, God. 

Now there was a serpent, or snake, in the 
garden of Eden. And Satan went into the 
serpent ; for as we have read, he is a spirit, 



12 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



and spirits have not bodies as we have, and they 
can go into places where we cannot go. 

So Satan went into the serpent, and while he 
was in the serpent, he came near to Eve and 




THE SEEPENT TEMPTS EVE. 



spoke to her. He said. Has God told you not 
to eat of every tree in the garden? Eve 
answered they might eat of all the trees ex- 
cept one, but of that one God had told them 
not to eat, for fear they would die. 

Then Satan told her that even if they did 
eat of the tree, they should not die. He said 
that God had forbidden them to eat of it be- 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



13 



cause it would make them wise, that is, would 
make them know a great deal. 

And Eve listened to what Satan said. When 
anybody tries to tempt, or coax, us to do wrong, 
we ought not 
to listen to him. 
Then there 
would be no dan- 
ger of our doing 
as he tells us to. 
But Eve listened 
to Satan. 

And when she 
saw that the tree 
was a beautiful 
tree, and that 
the fruit seemed 
good to eat, 
and remembered 
that the serpent 
had said it would make her wise, she took some 
of the fruit and ate of it, and she gave some 
to Adam, her husband, and he ate. So they 
both disobeyed God and sinned ; for when we 
disobey, or do not mind, God, that is sin. 




ADAM AND EVE DEIVEN OUT OF THE GARDEN. 



14 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



Then God drove them out of the garden of 
Eden, and would let them live there no longer. 

I have told you there are good angels living 
up in heaven with God. That is their home 
where they stay. Yet the Bible tells us that 
God often sent some of them down to this 
world. Sometimes it was to help good people, 
and sometimes to punish wicked people. 

And now when God drove Adam and Eve 
out of the beautiful garden, he sent some of his 
good angels down to keep watch that they did 
not go in there again. It was to punish Adam 
and Eve that God sent them out of the garden. 

As long as they stayed there they had every- 
thing they wanted. Only the beasts and the 
birds were with them ; the birds sang to them, 
and the wild beasts did not hurt them. The 
flowers were beautiful for them to look at, and 
the fruit that they ate grew by itself, without 
their having to work to make it grow. 

But now they had to go and live in a place 
that was very different from the beautiful gar- 
den. In this place the fruit would not grow 
by itself, and Adam had to work very hard to 
get enough for Eve and himself to eat. 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 



15 




ADAM AT LABOR. 



But something worse than this happened to 
them on account of their sin. Before they 
disobeyed God 
their hearts were 
good, but after 
they disobeyed him 
their hearts grew 
wicked. 

Our heart is that 
part of us that 
makes us want to 
do right, or wrong. When we have a good 
heart, that loves God, we want to do right; 
but when we have a bad heart, that does not 
love God, we want to do wrong. God had 
made Adam and Eve with good hearts, but 
now they made their own hearts bad, and 
wicked, by sin. 

And after awhile when their little children 
were born, these children were like their father 
and mother; they had wicked hearts too. 

And this is the reason why all the little 
children, and all the men and women in the 
world, were born with wicked hearts ; because 
Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and ate of the 



16 THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL 



fruit that lie told them not to eat of, in the 
garden of Eden. 

It is the reason why you and I have wicked 
hearts, which so often tempt us to sin. And 
God has said that if we sin we shall be punish- 
ed at the Judgment Day. But now I will tell 
you who came down from heaven to change 
our wicked hearts into good hearts, and to 
take away our sins, and to save us from being 
punished at the Judgment Day. 

Far across the great ocean, where the big 
ships sail, there is a land that used to be called 
the land of Israel. In that land, more than 
eighteen hundred years ago, a young woman 
lived whose name was Mary. And God sent 
one of his good angels down from heaven to 
speak to Mary. 

When she saw the angel she was afraid. 
But he told her not to be afraid, for he said 
that God was pleased with her, and would 
give her a son whose name should be Jesus. 
And Jesus should be a King, the angel said, 
greater than any king in the world, because 
he would be the Son of God. 

After the angel had told Mary this, he went 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



17 



up to heaven again. Now Mary was not rich, 
or great, she was only a poor young woman. 




THE ANGEL SPEAKS TO MART. 



And her husband was poor, too ; his name was 
Joseph, and he was a carpenter. 



18 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



After these things Mary and Joseph came 
to a city named Bethlehem. They did not 
live in Bethlehem ; it was not their home. 
They came there to stay only a little while, so 
they went to the inn, or place where travelers 




BETHLEHEM. 



stopped, to sleep. But the inn was full of 
people and there was no room for them. Then 
they went into the stable to sleep. And while 
they were there, God gave Mary the little son 
that the angel had promised her. And she 
named the child Jesus. 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 



19 



It was not in a beautiful house, such as rich 
people have, that Jesus was born. He was 
born in the stable in Bethlehem. Perhaps the 
cows and oxen were around him, lying down 




HIS MOTHER LAID HIM IN THE MANGEB. 



asleep, or were eating their food out of the 
trough, or manger. 

And his mother had no nice bed, or cradle, 
to lay him in there in the stable. So when 
she had wrapt some clothes around him, 
she laid him in the manger for his cradle. 




CHAPTEE 11. 

NOW in that country the people used to 
have a great many sheep, and these sheep 
stayed out in the fields to eat the grass. But 
the fields had no fences around tliem to keep 
the sheej) from getting lost. 

And beside the danger of getting lost, there 
were wild beasts in that land, such as wolves 
and bears, that sometimes came into the fields 
to Idll the sheep. Therefore somebody had 
to stay with them all the time, to keep them 
from getting lost or killed. 

The men who stayed with them were called 
shepherds. They stayed with the sheep not 
only in the day, but in the night too, for that 
was the time when the wild beasts would come 
to kill them. 

And on the night that Jesus was born, some 
shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks 
out in the field. And all at once, a bright 

20 




\MfiMaMfmt.W'.^j^M 



22 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



light shone around them, and an angel came 
down from heaven and spoke to them. The 
shepherds saw the angel and heard his voice, 
and they were very much afraid ; for I sup- 
pose they had never seen an angel before. 

But the angel told them not to be afraid, 
for he had come to bring good news to them, 
and to all the people. There had been born 
for them, he said, in the city of Bethlehem, a 
little child who was the Saviour. 

The angel meant Jesus. He called him the 
Saviour because he was the one who had come 
down from heaven (as I told you before) to 
change our wicked hearts into good hearts, 
and to take away our sins, and to save us 
from being punished at the Judgment Day. 

Then the angel told the shepherds that if 
they would go to Bethlehem they could see this 
little child. They would know him by the 
sort of clothes his mother had wrapped around 
him, and by finding him laid in a manger. 

As soon as the angel had told the shepherds 
this, there came a great many more angels 
from heaven, and they all began to speak, and 
to praise God, and to tell how good and kind 



24 THE STORY OP THE GOSPEL. 



he is to the people who live in this world. 
Then the angels went away, up into heaven 
again. 

When they were gone the shepherds said to 
one another, Let us go now to Bethlehem and 
see this Saviour, that God has sent his angel 
to tell us about. 

So they left their sheep and made haste to 
Bethlehem, and came into the stable. There 
they found Mary, and Joseph her husband, 
and the little child lying in a manger. And 
they were glad v^^hen they saw Jesus. 

Afterward they went out and told other per- 
sons what the angel had said to them about 
him. And all the people wondered at what 
they told them. Then the shepherds went 
back to their sheep in the field. 

And as they went they thanked God, be- 
cause he had sent his angel to tell them about 
Jesus, and had let them go to see him in the 
stable in Bethlehem. 

Now there was in the land of Israel another 
city, named Jerusalem. It was a larger city 
than Bethlehem; it had many more houses, 
and a great many more people living in it. 



26 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



The king of tlie land lived there. His name 
was Herod. He was king over all the people 
who lived in the land of Israel. These people 
were called Israelites, or Jews. But Herod, 
their king, was a wicked and cruel man. 

After Jesus was born some men who lived 
in a far country came to Jerusalem. These 
men were wise men, that is, they knew a great 
deal. They used to spend a great deal of time 
in looking up at the sky, and watching the 
stars, trying to learn all about them. 

And while they were in their own country, 
they saw a star up in the sky that was different 
from all the stars they had ever seen before. 
God had sent that star for the wise men to see, 
so they might know that Jesus was born. 

And because they were sure that Jesus was 
some great person whom God had sent into 
the world, they wanted to come and bow down 
before him, and worship him. 

So they left their own homes, and their own 
land, and came to the land of Israel. It was 
a long journey there, over mountains, and 
rivers, and it took them a long time to come 
so far. Yet the wise men did not turn back 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



27 



because they were tired of the way ; they kept 
on until they came to the city of Jerusalem. 




THE WISE MEN GO TO JERUSALEM. 



But when they came to Jerusalem they could 
not find Jesus. Therefore they spoke to the 
people, and said, Where is the little child that 
is born to be king of the Jews? for we have 



28 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



seen his star in our own land, and have come 
to worship him. 

When Herod, the king, heard what the wise 
men said, he was not pleased. He did not like 
to hear them call the little child, King. It 
made him afraid that, some day, this little 
child would grow up and be king over the 
Jews instead of himself 

Therefore Herod hated the little child, and 
he told some of his servants to find out for 
him where Jesus was born. When he heard 
it was in Bethlehem he called the wise men to 
him, and asked them all about the star they 
had seen in their own land. 

Then he told them to go to Bethlehem, and 
look carefully for the young child, and when 
they had found him to come back and bring 
him word. For Herod said that he wanted 
to go there and bow down before Jesus, and 
worship him too. 

But he said this not because he really wanted 
to worship him; it was because he hated him, 
and wanted to put him to death. 

So the wise men left Jerusalem, and started 
to go to the city of Bethlehem. And as they 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 29 

were going, they saw the same star that they 
had seen in their own land. 

When they saw the star they were very glad ; 
for instead of standing still up in the sky, like 
other stars, it moved on before them and showed 
them the way, till it led them to Bethlehem. 
But there it stood still, right over the house 
where the young child was. 

And the wise men went into the house and 
saw the young child there, with Mary his 
mother, and they bowed down before him, and 
worshipped him. 

In those days persons who came to visit kings, 
brought presents with them; and these wise 
men brought presents for Jesus. And now they 
took out their presents and gave them to him. 

They gave him three things — gold, and 
frankincense, and myrrh. Gold is taken out 
of the ground. Many beautiful things are 
made of it, such as earrings, and bracelets, 
and necklaces ; money, too, is made of gold. 

Frankincense and myrrh are gums that come 
out from the sides of trees. When they are 
burned they send up a smoke that is sweet 
and pleasant to smell. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 31 



The people in that land thought a great deal 
of frankincense and myrrh, and liked to have 
them. But they had to buy them, and pay 
much money for them. Therefore the wise 
men brought them as presents to Jesus. 

But while they were in Bethlehem the wise 
men had a dream. In that dream God spoke 
to them and told them not to go back to 
Jerusalem, to tell Herod where Jesus was as 
Herod had told them to. So when they left 
Bethlehem, they went back to their own land 
by another way. 

When Herod found they had disobeyed him 
he was angry, and then he did a very wicked 
and cruel thing. He sent his servants to 
Bethlehem, and into the country around 
Bethlehem, to kill all the little children there 
who were not more than two years old. He 
did this because he thought that among 
them Jesus would be killed. 

But, although the other little children were 
killed, Jesus was not killed. For before Herod's 
servants came to Bethlehem God sent an angel 
to Joseph, while he was asleep, to tell him that 
he should take the young child and his mother 



32 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



and make haste away into another country, 
called Egypt, where Herod could not find them. 




THE ANGEL SPEAKS TO JOSEPH. 



So Joseph got up in the night, when no one 
could see him, and he took Mary, and the 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



33 



young child, and went into Egypt. And they 
stayed in Egypt till king Herod was dead. 




HEROD S SERVANTS KILL THE LITTLE CHILDREN. 

Then God sent his angel again, while Joseph 
was sleeping, to tell him that now he should 



34 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 



go back into tlie land of Israel. So Joseph 
brought Mary and the young child back into 





JOSEPH GOES INTO EGYPT. 



that land, and they came into a city named 
Nazareth and lived there. 



CHAPTEE III. 

I HAVE told you about the city of Jerusalem, 
that it was a large city, with a great many 
people and a great many houses in it. 

But there was one house in Jerusalem more 
beautiful than all the rest. This was the 
temple, or church, where the Jews used to go 
to pray to God and to worship him. 

The temple was built of white marble, and 
it stood on the top of a hill. The people went 
up high stairs, till they came to its gates. 
The gates of the temple were very splendid; 
they were large and high, and were covered all 
over with silver and gold. 

The Jews used to take their little children 
up to the temple to present them, or bring 
them, to God; and Mary and Joseph took 
Jesus there. 

There was at this time in Jerusalem a good 
man named Simeon. Though he was an old 
man, God had promised him that he should 

35 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 37 



not die until Jesus was born, and he had seen 
him. And just before Mary and Joseph 
brought Jesus into the temple, God told 
Simeon to go there. 

When they came in Simeon took Jesus up 
in his arms; then he said that God's promise 
had come true, and that now he was willing to 
die, because he had seen the Saviour. 

And there was a very old woman named 
Anna in Jerusalem. She lived near the 
temple, so that she could go there, both in the 
day and in the night, to worship God. While 
Simeon was speaking xlnna also came into the 
temple and saw Jesus, and she thanked God 
for letting her see him. Then she went out 
and told other persons about him. 

The Jews who lived in Jerusalem often 
went up to the temple. But once every year 
all the men who lived in the land of Israel 
used to go there; and then they had a feast 
called the feast of the Passover. 

God had told the people of Israel to have 
this feast. It was to make them remember 
something. I will tell you what it was to 
make them remember. 



THE STOKT OF THE GOSPEL. 



39 



A great many years before this time the 
people of Israel had been slaves. To be a 
slave is to belong to some person, so that 
he can sell you and get money for you ; or else 
he can keep you himself, and make you work 
for him, without paying you for your work. 




THE ISRAELITES AT LABOR. 



And a great many years before this time 
the people of Israel had been slaves to the king 
of Egypt. This king's name was Pharaoh, 
and Pharaoh was cruel to the people of Israel. 
He made them work very hard in making 
bricks, and building houses, and doing all 
kinds of work out in the field. He allowed 




FEAST OF THE PASSOVEK. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 41 



his servants, also, to beat them, and even to 
put their little children to death. 

Then God was displeased with Pharaoh, and 
told him to let the people of Israel go out of 
his land ; but he would not. Therefore God 
sent many dreadful punishments upon him. 

But the last of these punishments was more 
dreadful than all the rest. It was this : In 
the middle of the night God came into king 
Pharaoh's land, and he sent an angel into the 
king's house, and into all the houses where 
his servants lived. 

And the angel made the king's oldest son to 
die, and the oldest sons of all his servants, so 
that in every house there was one dead. But 
God did not send his angel into the houses 
where the people of Israel lived. He told the 
angel to pass over their houses, and not to 
hurt any one in them. 

Then Pharaoh was troubled, and very much 
afraid, at what the angel had done to him 
and his servants. And because he was afraid, 
he let the people of Israel go out of his land 
as God had told him to. They went out that 
same night, and were his slaves no longer. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 43 



But before they went God told them to have 
a supper, or feast. They were to have it in 
every house where the people of Israel lived. 
At this feast they ate a lamb that was roasted 
with fire; they ate the lamb just before they 
started to go out of Egypt. 

And because God wanted the people of Israel 
to remember that night, and his kindness in 
Betting them free from Pharaoh, God told 
them they must have this feast, on that same 
night, every year afterward. 

This was the feast that all the men in the 
land of Israel came to eat in Jerusalem. 
For although it had been a great while 
since God told them to have it, they still kept 
on having this feast. 

It was called the feast of the Passover, 
because, as we have read, the angel passed over 
their houses when they were in Egypt, and 
did no harm to any one in them. But he 
went into the houses of all the Egyptians and 
made their oldest sons to die. 

Now Mary and Joseph were living in the city 
of Nazareth. I told you that they came there 
to live after the death of Herod, who wanted 



44 THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 



to kill Jesus. At the time I am now telling 
you about they still lived in that city. 

Nazareth was a long way from Jerusalem — 
as much as seventy miles from there. Yet 
Mary and Joseph used to go up to Jerusalem 
every year, to eat the feast of the passover. 

But they would not go this long way alone. 
Some of their friends, and neighbors, who 
wanted to eat of the feast, would go with 
them, and they would travel together. It was 
pleasanter for them and their friends to travel 
together, and keep each other company. 

Beside this they could help each other, if 
enemies, or robbers, should try to do them harm 
while they were on the way. For seventy 
miles was a long journey in that country. 

It took several days to go so far. They had 
no railroads, or stages, to ride in, as we have 
now. There were no such things in those days, 
and the people, when they went on a journey, 
often walked all the way. 

So as we have read, Mary and Joseph used 
to go up every year to Jerusalem, to eat the 
feast of the passover. And when Jesus was 
twelve years old they took him with them. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 45 



And they came to Jerusalem and stayed 
there seven days, until the feast was over, then 
they started with their friends to go back to 
their home in Nazareth. And they thought 
Jesus was in the company that went with 
them : so they went on for a whole day with- 
out looking for him. 

But at night, when they stopped to rest and 
sleep, on the way, they looked for him and 
could not find him. Therefore Mary and 
Joseph were troubled about him, and they left 
their friends and went all the way back to 
Jerusalem to seek for him. 

And when they came to Jerusalem they 
found him in the temple. He was talking 
with the teachers and wise men who were 
there, hearing what they said and asking them 
questions. And all the people who heard him 
were surprised at the way he could talk with 
them ; for he was only a child, but they were 
men of great learning. 

Then Mary came to him and asked him why 
he had stayed behind in Jerusalem, and not 
gone with them, when they left to go back to 
their home in Nazareth. For she said, that 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 47 



Joseph and she had been anxious and troubled 
about him. 

But Jesiis asked her if she did not know 
that he must be doing the things which his 
Father had sent him into this world to do. 

His Father, that is God, had sent him down 
from heaven to teach us how we shall obey 
God, and be made God's children. And now, 
although Jesus was only twelve years old, 
he was beginning to talk with the people 
about these things. 

Yet when Mary and Joseph came for him, 
he went back with them to their home in 
Nazareth. And he lived with them there, and 
obeyed all they said to him. And the people 
loved him, but they did not know he was the 
Son of God, for the time had not yet come for 
them to be told this. 

Many years after these things there lived 
in the land of Israel, a man called John the 
Baptist. He was a prophet. A prophet is a 
person who can tell what is going to happen. 
You and I do not know what is going to 
happen. We know what happened yesterday, 
and the day before, but we do not know what 



48 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



Will happen to-morrow, or the day after that. 
"We cannot tell till the time comes. 

But God's prophets were able to tell what 
things would happen before the time came. 
They were able to do this, because God told 
them about those things. 

And John the Baptist was a prophet, and a 
very good and holy man. He lived out in 
the wilderness, that is, in the lonely country 
where very few people lived. 

But although he was one of God's prophets, 
he was a poor man, and had only the things 
that poor people had. He wore a rough gar- 
ment, or coat, made out of the coarse hair that 
grows on the backs of camels. 

This coat was fastened around his waist with 
a girdle, or belt, of leather. For his food he 
had locusts and wild honey. Locusts are 
insects something like grassho23pers. There 
were great numbers of them in that country, 
and the poor people there used to eat them. 
They eat them still in the countries in that 
part of the world. They roast them in an 
oven, or over the fire, and mix a little salt 
with them and so make them ready for food. 



50 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 




John ate locusts and he ate wild honey also. 
Wild honey was the honey that the wild bees 
made out in the woods, in hollow trees, or in 

holes in the rocks. 
John could find 
both the locusts and 
the wild honey, in 
the wilderness where he lived. 

And there, while he was alone, he had plenty 
of time to think about God, and to pray to him, 
and to read in God's Book. 

We have read that after Mary and Joseph 
found Jesus in the temple at Jerusalem, he 
went back with them to the city of Nazareth. 
And he lived with them there and the people 
loved him, but they did not know he was 
God's Son because the time had not come for 
them to be told of this. 

But now it had been many years since Jesus 
went back to Nazareth, and he had grown up 
to be a man and the time had come when the 
Jews, that is, the people who lived in the land 
of Israel, were to be told that he was the Son 
of God. And God chose John the Baptist as 
the one who should tell them this. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 51 



Then John went to a place in the wilderness 
that was near to a river, called the river Jordan. 
And great numbers of the Jews came there to 
hear what he would say. 

And John told them that very soon the 
Son of God was coming among them, and 
that they should make ready for him to come, 
not by putting on their best clothes, or by 
putting their houses in order, but by repenting 
of the sins they had done. 

To repent of anything is to be sorry for it. 
But there are different ways of being sorry. 

Once there were two men taken to prison, 
and shut up in a small room called a cell. 
This cell had an iron door to it, and iron bars 
in the window, so that the men would not be 
able to get out. 

They were put there because they had taken 
what did not belong to them; they had stolen 
something, and so they had sinned. For when- 
ever we do anything that God has told us not 
to do, that is sin. 

And both of these men were very sorry for 
their sin. But one was sorry only because he 
had to be punished. As soon as he should get 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 53 



out of prison, he intended to steal again. The 
other was sorry because he had done what was 
wicked, and he determined, when he got out, 
to be an honest man and steal no more. 

Now this last man was the one who repented 
of his sin. And John told the Jews who came 
out in the wilderness to hear him, that they 
must make ready for Jesus to come among 
them by repenting of their sins. 

And the Jews did as John told them. They 
repented of all the sins they had done, that is, 
they were sorry for doing them, because it 
displeased God and was wicked; and they 
determined to do them no more. 

Then John took them down with him into 
the river Jordan, where the water was not too 
deep, and he baptized them in the river. 

Being baptized means something. It means 
having our sins washed away, but it does not 
mean that the water washes them away. Only 
God's Holy Spirit can do that. 

And now John baptized the people with 
water, but he did not want them to think 
that he could wash their sins away. He told 
them that Jesus was coming and that he could 



54 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



wash their sins away. Jesus could do this be- 
cause he was the Son of God, and he could 
send the Holy Spirit into their hearts. 

And if you and I repent of our sins and 
are baptized, as Jesus tells us to be, he will 
send the Holy Spirit into our hearts to wash 
our sins away. But if we do not rej^ent of 
our sins, and stop doing them, they can never 
be washed away ; and even though tlie min- 
ister may baptize us, it will not do us any 
good. 





CHAPTEE IV. 



AND while John was baptizing the people 
•^ in the river Jordan, Jesus left his home 
in Nazareth and came out into the wilderness, 
for John to baptize him also. But when John 
saw him he did not want to baptize him. For 
John knew that Jesus was the Son of God, and 
that his heart was pure and clean, and had no 
sin in it to be washed away. 

But Jesus told him that although he could 
not understand it now, yet it was right for John 
to baptize him. Then John went down with him 
into the river, and baptized him there. 

Perhaps you may ask, Why did Jesus want 
to be baptized, when his heart was without any 
sin in it that needed to be washed away ? It 

66 



56 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



was not for himself that he wanted to be 
baptized, but for us ; and to set us an example 
of doing everything that God tells us to do. 







THE RIVER JORDAN. 



After he had been baptized, as he was com- 
ing up out of the water, Jesus prayed to his 
Father in heaven. And then a very wonder- 
ful thing happened. The sky above him 
opened, and there came down from heaven 
what looked like a dove. But it was not really 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 57 



a dove, it was the Holy Spirit in the form, or 
shape, of a dove. It came dov/n and rested 
on Jesus. At the same time a voice spoke 
out of heaven. It was God's voice, and it 
said, This is my beloved Sou, with whom I am 
well pleased. 

Before this time the people had not known 
that Jesus was the Son of God. But now God, 
himself, spoke out of heaven, and told them 
that he was his Son. 

Jesus left the place where John was bap- 
tizing, and went out into the lonely wilderness ; 
and he stayed there forty days and forty nights, 
praying to God. 

No one was with him but the wild beasts; 
but the wild beasts could not hurt him, for he 
had power over them to keep them from doing 
him any harm. 

Through all those forty days and forty 
nights, Jesus fasted, and ate no food, and after- 
ward he was hungry. 

We have read how Satan tempted, or per- 
suaded. Eve to sin in the garden of Eden, and 
so our hearts were made wicked. This had 
happened long before the time we are reading 



58 THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 



about now, and Adam and Eve had been dead 
for many hundreds of years. But Satan, that 
wicked spirit, was not dead; for, as I have 
told you, spirits never die. 

And now, when Jesus had come down from 
heaven to make our wicked hearts good again, 
Satan thought he would tempt him to sin, as 
he had tempted Eve in the garden. So he 
went out into the wilderness, where Jesus was, 
to tempt him. 

Whenever Satan is going to tempt any per- 
son to do wrong, he finds out what thing it is 
that person wants most. Then he tries to 
make him do wrong to get that thing. He 
knew that Jesus had fasted, and wanted food, 
and he thought he would make him do wrong 
to get it. 

When he came to the place where Jesus 
was, Satan looked down on the ground and saw 
some stones lying there. Then he spoke to 
Jesus, and told him, if he were the Son of God, 
to change those stones into bread, so that he 
might have food to eat, because he was hungry. 

But Jesus knew why Satan had come, and 
although he could have changed the stones 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 59 



into bread by only telling them to be changed, 
he would not do it to obey Satan. He told 
him that the Bible says we must be more 
careful to obey God and do right, than we 
are even to get bread when we are hungry. 

Remember this, if you should ever be hun- 
gry, and be tempted to sin that you may get 
food; think how your Saviour did when he 
was hungry, and rather go without food than 
do what is wrong to get it. 

When Satan found that Jesus would not 
change the stones into bread, he tried another 
way to tempt him. He brought him away 
from the wilderness into the city of Jerusalem, 
and took him up to a very high place on the 
wall, or roof, of the temple. 

And as he stood with Jesus on the edge of 
this high place, Satan told him to throw him- 
self down from there, because, if he were the 
Son of God, the angels would come and catch 
him so that he should not be dashed to pieces 
in falling. 

You know what it is to have some one dare 
you to do wrong. It was this that Satan did 
to Jesus. He dared him to throw himself 



60 



THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL- 




SATAN TEMPTS JESXTS. 



down from that high place, because, he said, 
that if he were God's Son, he need not be 
afraid of getting hurt when he felh But, 
though Jesus knew that he could easily step 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 61 



off from that high place, and throw himself 
down, and not be hurt at all, yet he knew, too, 
that it would be wrong to do this only because 
Satan told him to do it. 

So he would not throw himself down, but 
told Satan, that the Bible says we must not 
put ourselves in danger, only to try whether 
God will save us from harm. 

Then Satan tempted Jesus once more. He 
took him away from the temple, and brought 
him up on to a very high mountain. And 
from the top of that mountain Satan showed 
Jesus all the kingdoms, or nations, in the 
world, at one time. 

Satan showed him their splendid cities, their 
great riches, and all the beautiful things that 
were in them. 

Then Satan said that if Jesus would only 
kneel down and worship him, he should be king 
over all those nations, and have them for his 
own. It was to try and persuade him to do this, 
that Satan had come out into the wilderness. 

He did not care that Jesus should turn the 
stones into bread, or that he should throw 
himself down from the high place on the 



62 THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 



temple. He asked Jesus to do these things 
only to get him in the way of obeying him. 

What Satan did care for was that Jesus 
should be willing to mind him, and take him 
for his master. That was the reason why he 
promised to give him all those kingdoms, 
(though they were not his to give,) if Jesus 
would only kneel down and worship him. 

But when Satan tried to make him do this, 
Jesus told Satan to go from him, because the 
Bible said that God was the only one to be 
worshipped, and that we must obey him alone. 
When Satan saw that he could not make Jesus 
obey him, he went away and left him. Then 
angels came and waited on him. 

Let us thank Jesus for not doing as Satan 
tempted him to do. Eve did as he tempted 
her, and so she caused us all to have wicked 
hearts and be sinners. But Jesus would not 
do as Satan tempted him, and now he is able 
to give us new and good hearts, and to make 
us God's children. 

After this Jesus went back to the place 
where John was baptizing the people in the 
river Jordan. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 63 



And some men came to him there. These 
men stayed with him and listened to what he 
taught them. Therefore they were his disciples. 
For a disciple is a person who comes to learn 
something from another person, and to obey 
what that person says. 

Jesus took his disciples and went to a city 
called Cana. And there was a marriage in 
that city. The mother of Jesus was there, 
and Jesus and his disciples were asked to the 
marriage. 

And a feast was made ready for the people 
who should come. Food was put on the table 
for them to eat, and wine for them to drink. 
But so many came that before the end of the 
feast the wine was all gone. 

And the mother of Jesus said to him, They 
have no more wine. Then she told the servants 
who were there, to do whatever Jesus should 
tell them to do. 

Now there were in the house six large stone 
pitchers, or water-jars, such as the Jews kept 
to hold water. Jesus said to the servants, Fill 
the water-jars with water. And they brought 
water and filled them up to the brim. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 65 



Then he said, Take some out now, and carry 
it to the chief man of the feast. The servants 
took some out and carried it to the chief man, 
or governor of the feast, and the governor 
tasted it and found it was wine. 

Jesus had changed the water into wine. 
He had not touched it, or put anything into 
it, but had only tokl it to be wine ; and in a 
moment it was wine= 

This was a miracle; for a miracle is some 
wonderful thing which only God can do. 
Jesus could do miracles because he was the 
Son of God, and had the power of God. 

This was the first miracle he did, to show 
the people that he had this power. We shall 
read afterward of many miracles that he did 
for them to see. 

There came to Jesus a man named Nicodemus. 
He was one of the chief men, or rulers, of the 
Jews. He came in the night that Jesus might 
teach him. For he wanted to hear about God, 
and to learn what he must do to please God. 

Then Jesus told Nicodemus that unless his 
heart was made new and good, he could not 
please God, or be one of his children. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 67 



And Jesus did not mean that Nicodemus 
only must have a new heart, but that you 
and I, and everybody, must have one. For as 
we have read, we were all born with wicked 
hearts which often tempt us to sin. 

But God does not stop caring for us because 
we have wicked hearts, and because we have 
sinned. He loves us so much that he sent his 
only Son down from heaven, to give us new 
and good hearts, and to save us from being 
punished for our sins. 

You remember that when Jesus was born in 
Bethlehem, the king who ruled over the land 
of Israel was named Herod. It was he who 
sent his servants to kill all the little children 
in Bethlehem, because he hoped that among 
them Jesus would be killed. 

After Herod was dead his son was made king. 
This son's name was Herod, too. He was a bad 
man like his father, and at the time I am now 
telling you about, he did a very wicked thing. 

He took his brother's wife away from his 
brother, and made her his wife. This was a 
great sin. Then John the Baptist came to 
Herod and told him he had sinned. 



68 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



When the woman, whose name was Herodias, 
heard what John said, she was very angry ; 
for she wanted to be the king's wife, because 
that made her rich and great. And she went 
to the king and asked him to have John put 
to death. 

But Herod was afraid to put John to death ; 
for he had heard him teach, and knew that he 
was a good man. Yet to please Herodias, 
his wicked wife, Herod took John and bound 
him with ropes, or chains, and put him in 
prison. 




CHAPTER V. 



WHILE John was in prison Herod's birth- 
day came. Then Herod made a great 
feast, and asked the captains in his army and 

many other great 
men, to come to it. 
Now Herodias 
had a daughter 
whose name was Sa- 
lome, and Salome 
knew how to dance 
very well. So while 
Herod and all the 
great men sat at the 
feast, Salome came 
into the room and 
danced before them. 
And Herod was so pleased with her beau- 
tiful dancing, he promised to give her any- 
thing she asked for. He said that even if she 

69 




AN EASTERN DANCING-GIRL. 



70 



THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 



asked for the half of his kingdom, he would 
give it to her. He meant that she might 




JOHN THS BAPTIST 18 KILLED IN PEISON. 



choose from all the things that he had, and he 
would give her whatever she wanted. 

It was foolish and wicked in Herod to make 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPELo 71 



this promise to Salome. Slie had not done 
anything to deserve it; yet he made it to 
her. Then Salome went to her mother, and 
said, What shall I ask king Herod to give me? 

And what did this wicked woman say ? She 
did not tell her daughter to ask for some beau- 
tiful present, or for money, but she told Salome 
to go back to Herod, and tell him, that she 
wanted him to send to the prison, and have 
John the Ba]3tist's head cut off, and brought 
to her, at once, in a large dish. 

So Salome made haste back to the king, and 
asked as her mother had told her. Then 
Herod was very sorry, for he did not want to 
put John to death. And he should have told 
her that he would not do it. 

For when we have promised to do a thing 
that is wicked, we should ask God to forgive 
us for making the promise, and not do the 
wicked thing, because that would only make 
our sin the worse. 

Yet because the great men at the feast had 
heard him promise, and because he was ashamed 
to seem afraid to do it, Herod sent one of his 
soldiers, who cut off John's head in the prison, 



72 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



and brought it in a large dish to Salome, and 
she took it to her mother. 

When John's disciples heard what Herod 
had done they came and took up his dead body, 




JOHN S DISCIPLES BURY HIM. 



and laid it in a sepulchre, or burying place, 
and then went and told Jesus. 

Jesus and his disciples went to a part of the 
land called Galilee. As they were going they 
came to a city named Sychar. A little way 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 73 



out of this city was a well, where the people 
came to get water. For in that country, they 
had not so many rivers and streams as we have 
in ours, and the people had to draw up water 
in buckets, or pitchers, from wells that were 
dug deep in the ground. 

It was in the hot part of the day that Jesus 
came near to the city of Sychar, and being 
tired with his journey he sat down by the welL 
His disciples went into the city to buy food, 
and left him alone. 

And a woman came out of the city, carrying 
her pitcher to draw water. Now this woman 
did not love God in her heart, and she had 
done many things to displease him. Jesus 
knew this ; for he can see all our hearts, and 
he knows everything we have done. And 
he talked with the woman, and told her of 
some of the things she had done, long ago, to 
displease God. 

Then she was surprised, when she found that 
he knew of these things. And she said. Sir, 
I see thou art a prophet. She meant that he 
was a person whom God told of things which 
other people did not know. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 75 



And she said to Jesus, I know that the 
Saviour is coming into the world, and when 
he comes he will tell us all things. Jesus said 
to her, I that speak to thee am he. 

Then the woman left her pitcher and made 
haste back to the city, and said to the people, 
Come and see a man who told me all the things 
that ever I did. Is not this the Saviour ? And 
the people went out and saw Jesus, and begged 
him to come into their city. 

So he came there and stayed with them three 
days. And they listened to the things that he 
taught them. Then they said to the w^oman. 
Now we believe on him, not because thou didst 
tell us about him, but because we have heard 
him ourselves, and know that he is the Saviour 
who has come down from heaven. 

From that time Jesus began to teach all the 
people in the land of Israel, telling them that 
the Judgment Day was coming, and that they 
should repent of their sins and believe in him. 

After this he went again to the city of Cana, 
where he had changed the water into wine. 
And a nobleman, that is, a great and rich man, 
came to him there. This nobleman had a son 



76 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



who was very sick, and he came and asked 
Jesus to make him well. 

He wanted Jesus to go to his home where 
his son was. He said, Come quickly, before 
my child dies. He said this because he thought 
that Jesus would have to go and see his son, 
before he could make him well. But Jesus 
told the nobleman to go back to his home, 
for his son should get well. 

The nobleman believed what Jesus said, and 
started to go back to his home which was a 
long way off. But the next day, before he 
reached there, some of his servants came out 
and met him and said that his son was well. 

Then the nobleman asked them when he 
began to get better. They answered, Yesterday, 
at the seventh hour, the fever left him. 

So the nobleman knew that it was at the same 
time when Jesus said to him, Thy son shall get 
well. When he and liis family saw this miracle 
which Jesus had done, they all believed that he 
was the Son of God. 

Jesus came to the city of Nazareth where he 
had lived so many years with Mary his mother, 
and Joseph her husband. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 77 



There was a synagogue, or church, in Naza- 
reth. We have read that in the city of Jeru- 
salem there was a beautiful temple, or church, 
where the Jews used to go and worship and 
pray to God^ 

But those Jews who lived in other cities, far 
away from Jerusalem, could not go there every 
Sabbath day to worship ; it was too far. There- 
fore they built smaller churches in the cities 
where they lived. These smaller churches 
were called synagogues. 

And on the Sabbath day Jesus went into the 
synagogue that was in Nazareth, and many 
of the Jews were there. Then Jesus spoke to 
them, and told them that he was the Saviour 
whom God had sent down from heaven. 

But the Jews were angry when he said 
this, for they would not believe he was the 
Saviour. And they took hold of him and led 
him out of the synagogue, to the top of a steep 
hill on which their city was built, that they 
might throw him down there and kill him. 

But because he had the power of God, they 
were not able to do him any harm. And he 
left them and went away from their city. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 79 



And lie came to another city, called Caper- 
naum, which was built on the sea-shore. As 
he stood on the shore, near to the water, the 
people crowded around him to hear what he 
would teach them. 

And Jesus saw two boats on the shore, which 
belonged to fishermen. These were men who 
sailed out on the sea and caught fish, which 
they sold. In this way they earned their 
living. They were not fishing now, but were 
washing and mending their nets. Nets are 
made of twine. They are what fishermen let 
down into the water to catch fish with. 

But sometimes the fish, after they are caught 
in the net, try so hard to get out of it, that 
they break or tear the net. Or sometimes, 
branches of trees that are floating in the water^ 
or stones lying at the bottom, catch in the net 
and tear it. 

And the nets that these men had been fish- 
ing with were torn, and now they were mend- 
ing them. One of the men was named Peter, 
and he had a brother, named Andrew, who 
helped him. 

And the people crowded around Jesus, on the 



80 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



shore, to hear him, so that he went into Peter's 
boat and asked him to push it out a little way 
from the land. When Peter had done this, 
Jesus sat down in the boat and taught the 
people, while they stood listening to him on 
the shore. 

After he had done teaching them, he told 
Peter and Andrew to sail out on the sea, and 
let down their net into the water to catch fish. 
Peter told Jesus they had been trying to catch 
some all night, but had caught nothing. Yet, 
he said, as Jesus told them to do it, they would 
let down their net. 

And when they had done this they caught 
a great many fishes, so that their net broke, 
because it could not hold them all. Then Peter 
and Andrew beckoned to two other fishermen, 
named James and John, who were near, that 
they should come and help them. 

And James and John came in their boat, 
and helped them draw up the net out of the 
water. When they had taken the fish out of 
the net, they loaded both boats with them; 
and there were so many that the boats began 
to sink. 



82 THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 



It was Jesus who made the fish come to the 
place where the fishermen could catch them. 
They had tried to catch them before, but the 
fish were not there. Yet when Jesus told 
them to try, so many fish came that both boats 
were filled with them. This was a miracle, 
like turning the water into wine, and like 
curing the nobleman's son. 

And when Peter saw this miracle which 
Jesus had done, he bowed down in the boat 
before him, and worshipped him. 

Jesus had done it on purpose for Peter and 
Andrew, and James and John, to see, so that 
they might know he was the Son of God. For 
he wanted these men to go with him, and be 
his disciples. 

And he said to them. Come with me. Then 
they left their boats, and their nets, and all that 
they had, and went with him. 





CHAPTER VI. 

ON the Sabbath day Jesus went into the syna- 
gogue that was in the city of Capernaum, 
and he taught the people who were there. 
Among them was a man who had an evil spirit. 

I have told you before about evil angels, or 
spirits, that we believe they were once good 
angels w^ho lived in heaven. But they dis- 
obeyed God and he sent them out of heaven. 

And these angels that were sent out of 
heaven are alive still, for angels, or spirits, 
never die. But now they are bad spirits, who 
hate every thing that is good and try to work 
against it. 

They have not bodies like ours, and they can 
go into places where we cannot go. Satan is 
their king, and he sends them wherever he 
thinks they can do harm. 

At the time we are now reading about, when 
Jesus was on earth, Satan sometimes sent them 

83 




JESUS CASTS OUT THE EVIL SPIRIT. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 86 



into men, and women, and even into little 
children. And the persons they went into, had 
to do whatever the evil spirits made them do. 

And now one of these spirits had gone into 
a man that was in the synagogue. And the 
man could not make him go out, for spirits 
will not obey men. 

But they have to obey Jesus. He could 
make the evil spirit go out, and he spoke to him 
and said. Come out of the man. Then the 
spirit cried out with a loud voice, and made 
the man fall down on the ground, but after- 
ward he came out of him. 

And the people who were in the synagogue 
were surprised. They said to each other. 
What does this mean, that even the wicked 
spirits obey him? And all the people who 
lived in that part of the land of Israel heard 
about this miracle that Jesus had done. 

Jesus came out of the synagogue and went 
into the house where his two disciples, Peter 
and Andrew, lived. Peter's wife's mother was 
sick with a fever, and they asked Jesus to 
make her well. 

Then he stood by the bed where she lay, 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 87 



and took her by the hand, and lifted her up, 
and at once the fever left her and she was well, 
so that she rose up and waited on the persons 
who were in the house. 

In the evening, when the sun had gone 
down, the people in the city brought many 
persons who were sick and who had evil spirits 
in them. And Jesus made every sick person 
well, and he made the evil spirits go out of all 
those who had them. 

The next morning he rose U23 very early, 
before it was light, and went out of the city, 
by himself, to a lonely place in the wilder- 
ness, and there he kneeled down on the 
ground and prayed to God. 

For although he was God's Son, and had 
lived up in heaven, yet for our sake he had 
come down on the earth to be a man. And 
while he lived on the earth he had many 
things to give him trouble and pain ; therefore 
he prayed that God would help him. 

But after he had gone out into the wilder- 
ness, the people who lived in Capernaum came 
to Peter's house to find him ; when they heard 
he was not there they went to look for him. 



88 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



And they came to him out in the wilderness, 
and begged him not to go away from their city. 
But Jesus told them he must go and preach to 
the people who lived in other cities also. 

After this he went through all the cities in 
that country preaching, or telling about, the 
Gospel, to the people who lived there. 

Gospel means good news. The good news 
of the Gospel is what we have read before; 
That Jesus came down from heaven to change 
our wicked hearts into good hearts, and to 
take away our sins, and to save us from being 
punished for them at the Judgment Day. 

For we have all disobeyed God and sinned; 
we have done so many times. And God says 
that those who sin shall be punished. How 
then could Jesus save us from being punished 
when we have sinned and deserve to be pun- 
ished? There was only one way and that was 
for him to be punished in our place. 

And Jesus loved us so much that he was 
willing to take this way. We shall read after- 
ward how he did take it and was punished in 
our place, for the sins that we have done. 

Yet this will not save us from punishment, un- 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 89 



less we repent of those sins and stop doing them 
and love Jesus who was punished for them. 

There came to Jesus a man who had the 
leprosy. The leprosy was a disease, or sickness, 
which made sores come on a person's skin, 'and 
at the same time made his skin look white, 
like snow. 

Sometimes it came on one part of a person's 
body only, and sometimes it. came not only on 
one part, but over his whole body, from his 
head to his feet. 

It was a very dreadful disease. As soon as any 
man got it he had to leave his home and go 
to some place where he would be alone, or else 
with other persons only who had the leprosy 
like himself And he could not come back to 
his home until he was well. But no one, except 
God, could make him well. 

Sometimes God sent the leprosy on wicked 
men to punish them. He sent it once on a 
king whom we read about in the Bible. This 
king's name was Uzziah. The leprosy was 
sent on him for disobeying what God said. 

And Uzziah was never cured, but was a leper, 
that is, he had the leprosy, for twenty-eight 




JESUS CURES THE MAN WITH THE LEPKOSY. 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 91 



years, until he died. All that time he lived 
in a separate house, away from other persons, 
and his son had to be king in his place. 

And now a man who had this dreadful 
disease, came to Jesus and kneeled down on 
the ground before him, and said. Lord, if thou 
art willing to do it thou canst make me clean, 
that meant, well. 

Jesus pitied the man, and put out his hand 
and touched him, and said, I will do it: be 
clean. As soon as Jesus had spoken these 
words, the leprosy went from the man and he 
was well. 

And Jesus told him not to tell any one who 
had cured him. But the man was so full of 
joy at being made well, that he went out and 
told all the people. 

Then such great numbers of persons came 
to Jesus, and crowded around him, that he 
could not stay in that place. And he went 
away into the wilderness where he would be 
alone, and there he prayed to God. 

And he came again to the city of Capernaum. 
This city, as we have read, was built on the 
sea-shore near to the water. 



92 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 

The houses in Capernaum were not like ours, 
three or four stories high; most of them were 
only one story high. And their roofs were 
flat so that persons could go up of a pleasant 
summer evening, and walk there. Around 
the edge of the roofs there was a railing, or 
wall, to keep people from falling off. 

But there was one room in these houses that 
had no roof over it. It was in the middle of 
the house, and was called the court. Any 
person who was in this room could look up 
and see the sky above him, just as if he were 
not in the house at all. 

But when it rained, or was very hot, they 
spread an -awning, or covering of some kind, 
over this room to keep out the sun or the rain. 
And now Jesus had gone into a house that 
had a room like this. 

And many of the people of the city came 
there to hear him. So many came that they 
could not all get in, a part had to stand outside 
around the door. And some men brought 
a sick man who had the palsy. 

The palsy is a disease which makes persons 
weak, and not able to walk. And this man 



THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 93 



could not walk ; therefore his friends brought 
him lying on his bed, or mattress. They 
brought him to Jesus because they had heard 
that he could do miracles, and cure persons 
whom no doctor could cure. 




EASTERN BE! 



But when they came to the house where 
Jesus was, they could not go in because of the 
crowd. Then they went up on to the roof 
in some way, and carried the sick man up 
with them. 

And when they had taken off the awning, or 
covering, they let him down, on his bed, into 
the room below where Jesus was. They showed 
their faith in Jesus by doing this. 



94 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



Faith means believing. This sick man's 
friends believed that Jesus could make him 




JESUS CUKES THE MAN WITH THE PALSY. 



well. They showed their faith, or belief, by 
taking so much trouble to come to him. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 95 



When Jesus saw how much faith they had 
in him, he did something for the sick man 
that was better, even, than to make him well 
of his palsy ; this was to forgive his sins, so 
that God would not be angry with him, or 
punish him for them. 

Men cannot forgive sins, only God can do 
that. But Jesus can do it because he is the 
Son of God, and has power to do the things 
that God can do. And now Jesus spoke to the 
sick man, and told him that all his sins were 
forgiven. 

Now there were among the people in the 
house some men who were called Scribes, and 
others called Pharisees. They were not good 
men, but were hypocrites, that is, persons who 
tried to make others believe they were good, 
while in their hearts they were wicked. 

When they heard Jesus tell the sick man 
that his sins were forgiven, they were not 
pleased, and they said to themselves. Who is 
this that pretends he can forgive sins as if he 
were God? 

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and he said 
to them, Why do you have such thoughts in 



96 THE STOEY OF THE OOSPEL. 



your hearts ? To show you that I have power 
to forgive this man his sins, I will now make 
him well of his palsy. 

Then he said to the sick man, Stand up on 
thy feet, and take up thy bed and go to thy 
home. And by speaking those words only, 
Jesus made the man well. 

And at once he rose up from his bed, or 
mattress, and took it up and carried it out of 
the house, so that all the people could see him. 
Then the people wondered, and they said. We 
never saw such things done before. 




CHAPTEE VIL 

WE have read that the land where the Jews 
lived was called the land of Israel. 
God brought them into that land when they 
came up out of Egypt, where they had been 
slaves to king Pharaoh. 

And God gave the land of Israel to the 
Jews for their own. They lived in it for hun- 
dreds of years, and might have been happy 
there. But they disobeyed God and were 
wicked. 

Then God sent the kings of other lands, or 
nations, against them to punish them. Those 
kings brought soldiers and fought against the 
Jews and gained the victory over them. And 
the Jews had to obey the kings of those other 
nations, and be their servants. 

At the time we are now reading about, while 
Jesus was on earth, the Jews were servants to 
a nation called the Romans, and they had to 

7 97 



98 THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 



obey whatever the emperor, or king, of the 
Romans told them. And he told them to pay 
him money. Every man among the Jews had 
to pay a part of the money that he earned to 
the emperor of Rome. 

Now the emperor did not live in the land 
of Israel, and he did not come there himself 
to get the money which the Jews paid him; 
but he sent men there who took this money 
for him. These men were called publicans, 
and the money which they took for the em- 
peror was called taxes, or tribute money. 

As Jesus was passing by he saw a publican, 
named Matthew, sitting at the place where the 
people came to pay him the tribute money. 
And Jesus spoke to Matthew and told him to 
come with him. Then Matthew rose up and 
left everything, and went with Jesus. 

He might have had more money by staying 
where he was. Perhaps he might have grown 
rich; for sometimes the publicans came to be 
rich men. But he chose rather to go with 
Jesus, even though he might be poor. And 
from that time he stayed with him, and was 
one of his disciples. 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 



99 



Jesus went up to the city of Jerusalem. 
In that country the cities had great walls of 
stone around them. The people built these 
walls to keep out their enemies^ when they 
came with soldiers to fight against them. 
There was such a wall around Jerusalem. 




JESUS CALLS MATTHEW TO BK HIS DISCIPLE. 

In this wall were gates for the people to 
pass through. One of these gates was called 
the sheep gate, because sheep were taken 
through it into the city. 

Near the sheep gate was a pool, or little 
pond of water, called the pool of Bethesda, 
and around this pool were built five porches. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



101 



In these porches a great number of people 
were gathered together who were sick, or blind, 
or lame. 




JESUS CURES THE SICK MAN AT THE POOL OF BETHESDA. 

They were waiting here because, sometimes, 
the water in the pool moved, as if somebody- 
had stirred it up, or troubled it. And they 
thought that whoever went into the water 
first, after it had been troubled, would be made 
well of whatever sickness he had. 

Jesus came to the pool of Bethesda, and 
walked among the poor sick people who were 
waiting in the porches. And a man was there 
who had been sick for thirty-eight years. He 



102 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



was too weak to walk, or even to stand, and lie 
was lying upon his bed. 

Jesus knew how long he had been sick and 
he pitied him, and said to him, Dost thou 
want to be made well? Then the sick man, 
because he thought he must get into the water 
to be made well, answered Jesus, and said, I 
have no one, after the water has been troubled, 
to help me into the pool. But while I am 
trying to get down to it, another person steps 
in before me and I am too late. 

Then Jesus said to him, Kise, and take uj) 
thy bed, and walk. And at once the man was 
made strong and well, and he rose and took up 
his bed and walked. 

Now it was the Sabbath day when Jesus did 
this. And when the Jews saw the man carry- 
ing his bed, they said to him, It is wrong for 
thee to carry thy bed on the Sabbath day. 
They said this because God had told them not 
to work on the Sabbath day. 

But this man was not working on the Sab- 
bath. Yet they said he was doing wrong. 
Then he answered them, saying. He that cured 
me told me to take up my bed and walk. They 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 103 



said, Who is it that told thee this? The man 
said it was Jesus. 

Then the Jews found fault with Jesus, and 
told him he ought not to have cured the man 
on the Sabbath day. They said he had worked, 
and disobeyed Grod, by doing this miracle. 
And they were angry with him and wanted to 
kill him. 

But Jesus talked with them and told them 
that it was God who had sent him to do miracles, 
and yet, he said, the Jews would not believe 
that God had sent him. But he told them that 
he was God's Son, and that he had power not 
only to make sick people well, but dead people 
alive again. 

And the time was coming, he said, when all 
those persons who were dead would hear him 
call to them, and would rise up out of their 
graves. Then those who had done right would 
be rewarded, but those who had done wickedly 
would be sent away to be punished. 

Jesus and his disciples walked, on the Sab- 
bath day, through some fields where the wheat, 
or corn, was growing. As they walked the 
disciples picked some of the grains and rubbed 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 105 



them in their hands, to separate them from 
the chaff, or straw, that grew around them. 
They did this so that they might eat the grains 
of wheat, because they were hungry. 

Then some of the Pharisees who saw the 
disciples, found fault with them, just as they 
had found fault with Jesus for curing the sick 
man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath 
day. The Pharisees said that the disciples 
were doing work on the Sabbath day. 

But Jesus told them that he was the Lord, 
or Master, of the Sabbath day. He meant 
that they were not to judge or blame him for 
what he did, or what he allowed his disciples 
to do, on that day. For whatever he did on 
that day it was right to do. 

On another Sabbath Jesus went into the 
synagogue, where the people had come together 
to hear the Scriptures read, and to pray. 
A man was there whose right hand was 
withered, and shrunk up, so that he could not 
open it, or stretch it out. 

And some of the Scribes and Pharisees who 
were in the synagogue, watched Jesus to see 
whether he would make the man well on the 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 107 



Sabbath; for they wanted to find fault with 
him as they had done before. 

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and he told 
the man who had the withered hand to stand 
up, where the rest of the people could see him. 

Then Jesus said to the Scribes and Pharisees, 
If one of you had a sheep that should fall into 
a pit on the Sabbath day, would you not take 
hold of it and lift it out? And if it be right 
to do good to a sheep, how much more is it to 
do good to a man. Therefore I tell you it is 
right to do good on the Sabbath day. 

Then he said to the man whose hand was 
withered, Stretch out thy hand. And the man 
stretched it out, and at once it was made well 
like the other. 

Then the Pharisees were filled with anger 
against Jesus, and they went out of the 
synagogue and talked with one another about 
some way of putting him to death. 

When Jesus knew of it, he went away from 
that place with his disciples; and they came to 
the sea of Galilee. And many people who 
lived in cities far away, followed him. 

And those that were sick, or lame, or had 



108 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



evil spirits in them, crowded around him to 
touch him, so that just by his touch they might 
be made well. And Jesus cured them all. 

After this he went out to a desert place, that 
is, to a place that was lonely and wild, and he 
stayed there all night praying to God. 

When it was morning he called his disciples 
to him, and he chose twelve of them whom he 
named Apostles. Apostle means messenger. 
Jesus called these twelve disciples Apostles, 
because he intended to send them out as 
messengers among the people, to teach them. 

The names of the twelve apostles were these : 
Peter and Andrew, James and John, Philij) 
and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, 
James, the son of Alpheus, Simon and Judas, 
the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot. 

Jesus went up on to a mountain and when 
he was set down, he taught the people who 
came to him there. He told them what 
persons were truly happy; he called those 
persons the blessed ones. He said. 

Blessed are the poor in spirit. 

A person is poor in spirit when he is sorry 
for all the wicked things he has done. Instead 




JESUS PKEACHES THE SEBMON ON THE MOUiiT. 



110 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



of being proud, and thinking himself very- 
good, he remembers those things and repents 
of them, and asks God to forgive them. 

Blessed are they that mourn. 

To mourn is to weep and cry because we 
have trouble. We think it very hard when 
we have trouble. But if we are troubled on 
account of our sins, God is pleased with us and 
he will forgive us and take our trouble away. 

Blessed are the meek. 

To be meek is to be patient, and not to get 
angry, when others are rude to us and try to 
do us harm. When Jesus was on earth wicked 
men were rude and cruel to him. But he was 
kind to them. He bore all they did to him 
patiently and meekly. And we must be like 
him if we want to be his disciples. 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst 
after righteousness. 

To hunger and thirst is to want food to eat 
and water to drink. Jesus says we ought to 
want to do right and to please God, as much 
as we want food when we are hungry and 
water when we are thirsty. If we want to do 
right as much as this, God will help us do it. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. Ill 



Blessed are those who are merciful to others, 
for they shall have mercy shown to them. 

To be merciful is to be kind. God tells us 
to be kind to other persons, and if we are so 
he will make others kind to us. And God 
himself will be kind to us. 

We should be merciful, or kind., to dumb 
beasts also, for God made them as well as us. 
And he is always displeased when we treat 
them cruelly. 

Blessed are those who have pure hearts. 

A pure heart is a clean and good heart. 
We were not born with pure hearts; we were 
born with wicked hearts. But, as we have 
read, God's Holy Spirit can change them and 
make them pure. And when he does this, God 
takes us to be his children. 

Blessed are the peacemakers. 

A peacemaker is a person who will not 
quarrel himself, and who tries to keep others 
from quarreling. Or when they have quar- 
reled already, he does all he can to make them 
friends again. 




CHAPTER VIII. 

JESUS said that wlien people will not be 
friends with us and when they treat us 
unkindly, because we love him and are his 
disciples, we must not grieve, or complain, but 
be glad. For if we bear evil things for him 
while we live in this world, God will give us 
good things when we go up to heaven. There- 
fore we ought to be willing to bear unkind 
treatment for Jesus' sake. 

And we are not the only ones who have 
been treated so. Even the prophets, those good 
men whom God sent in the old times, were 
treated in the same way. 

We have read about the Scribes and Phari- 
sees who were hypocrites, that is, persons who 
tried to make others believe they were good, 
while in their hearts they were wicked. 

Jesus told his disciples they must not be like 

112 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 113 



them; for unless they were better than the 
Scribes and Pharisees they could not go into 
the kingdom of heaven. 

And he said to the people, Your teachers 
have told you that if you should kill another 
person, you would be in danger of being pun- 
ished. But I tell you that if you are even 
angry with another person who has done 
you no harm, you will be in danger of 
punishment. 

Then he told his disciples that when they 
were going up to the temple to worship God, 
they must try and remember whether they had 
done wrong to any other person ; whether they 
had taken any thing that belonged to him, or 
had said what was not true about him, or in 
any other way had done him harm. 

And if they had, they must go and do what 
was right to that person. For God would not 
listen to their prayers while there was some sin 
in their hearts that they had not repented of. 

We must be pure and good, Jesus says, in 
all we do and say, and must not even think an 
impure or bad thought. And if God is dis- 
pleased with us for thinking an impure thought, 



114 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



how greatly will an impure word, or act, 
offend him. 

When other persons are unkind to us, we 
must not be unkind to them again. Instead 
of this, we must do good to them, and pray 
for them ; then, Jesus says, we will be like our 
Father in heaven ; for he is kind even to those 
who do not obey him or love him. 

And he told his disciples that when they 
did what was right, they must be very careful 
not to do it only for others to see them and 
praise them. For this was not the reason why 
they should do right, because they wanted to 
be praised. They should do it because they 
wanted to please God. 

When they gave any of their money to a 
person who was poor, they were not to go around 
telling others about it and boasting about it. 

When they said their prayers, they must not 
do like the Pharisees, for they used to say 
their prayers out in the streets, on purpose 
that others might hear them and think them 
very good. 

But the disciples of Jesus must choose 
a place where n@ one but Grod could hear them. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 115 



Then, Jesus said, God would listen to their 
prayers and answer them. 

And he said that we must not want to be 
rich, and to lay up a great deal of money in 
this world, but that we must lay up riches in 
heaven. He did not mean that we could lay 
up money in heaven. We shall not want any 
money there. 

Jesus meant that we should be trying all the 
time to live so that we shall get to heaven. 
For in heaven we shall have more things to 
make us happy than all the money in the 
world could buy. 

And he said to the people. You cannot obey 
God and Satan too. We cannot do this 
because if we obey God we will do right, but 
if we obey Satan we will do wrong. Therefore 
we cannot obey both; and we must choose 
which one to obey. 

And he told his disciples not to judge other 
persons; he meant that we should be careful 
how we find fault with others, and blame them. 

For perhaps they never did the thing we 
are blaming them for; or even if they did it, 
did not mean any harm. We cannot see their 



116 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



hearts and tell how they felt while they were 
doing it; only God can tell that, and perhaps 
he does not blame them. 

And how often we ourselves do the very 
things we blame others for doing. Jesus said 
we should first stop doing wrong ourselves, 
and then we would be able to tell others of 
their faults. 

And he told the people who were listening 
to him, and he tells you and me, that whatever 
we want other persons to do to us, we must do 
to them. If we want them to treat us kindly 
and justly, we must treat them kindly and 
justly too. 

And he said to the people. Try to go in at 
the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad 
is the way that leads to destruction. 

By the narrow gate Jesus meant the good 
way that leads up to heaven. 

By the broad gate he meant the bad way 
that leads down to hell. 

A great many persons went in at the broad 
gate, he said; but not nearly so many took 
pains to find the narrow gate, that is, to find 
out the good way and to walk in it. 



THE STOHY OF THE GOSPEL. 117 



Then Jesus said that not every one who 
called him Lord, or Master, would be taken up 
to heaven, but only those who obeyed his 
Father in heaven. 

Many persons who had not done this, would 
come to him at the Judgment Day, he said, 
and would call him Lord, Lord, and would say 
they had worked for him, and had taught 
other persons about him. But he would tell 
them they had never truly been his disciples. 
And he would send them away, with all the 
people who had been wicked. 

Then Jesus spoke about two men who each 
of them built a house. 

One chose a strong rock to build his on. 
When it was done there came a great storm 
and beat against the house. 

But the rain could not move the rock that 
it stood on, nor the wind blow it away. 
Therefore the house stood firm and the storm 
did it no harm. 

The other man built his house in a place 
where there was nothing but sand to build it on. 
The storm came against this house too. And 
the rain washed the sand away from under- 



118 



THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 



neath it, and the wind blew against it, and 
the house fell and was broken to pieces. 

Then, Jesus said, 
that all those persons 
who obeyed what he 
told them were like 
the wise man who 
built his house on the 




rock, 
who 



But those 
disobeyed 



THE HOUSE ON THE SAND, 



him were like the 
foolish man who 
built his house on the sand. 

For these two men meant the righteous and 
the wicked, that is, the good people and the 
bad people; and the storm that beat against 
their houses meant the Judgment Day. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



119 



Jesus came again to the city of Capernaum. 
A man lived there who was a captain in the 
Roman army. He 
was captain over a 
hundred soldiers, 
and was called a 
centurion, for cap- 
tains in the Roman 
army were called by 
that name. 

And this centu- 
rion had a servant 
whom he loved, but 
the servant was sick 
and going to die. Now the centurion had been 
told how Jesus could make sick people well 
by only speaking to them, and telling them to 
be well. 

And when he heard that Jesus was in the 
city, he sent some of the chief men among 
the Jews, who were his friends, to ask Jesus 
if he would not come and heal his servant, 
that is, make him well. 

And the men came and begged Jesus to do 
it. They told him that although the centurion 




ROMAN CENTURION. 



120 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



was not a Jew, but a Roman, yet he was a good 
man and very kind to the Jews, for with his 
own money he had built them a synagogue. 

Then Jesus went with the men toward the 
centurion's house. But when he came near it, 
the centurion sent some more of his friends 
with a message to Jesus. 

The message was this: That the centurion 
had not come to speak with Jesus himself, 
because he thought he was not good enough. 

And now he sent word that he did not think 
himself good enough even for Jesus to come 
into his house. But if Jesus would only say 
that his servant should get well, without 
coming there, the centurion was sure he would 
get well. 

For the centurion said that he had soldiers 
under him who obeyed what he said to them. 
If he told one of them to go to any place, he 
would go. And if he told another to come to 
him, he would come. 

And just as the soldiers obeyed him, he was 
sure the disease, or sickness, would obey Jesus, 
and go out of his servant, if Jesus would 
tell it to go. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 121 



When Jesus heard the centurion's message 
he was pleased, and he said that he had not 
found any one else who had so much faith, 
that is, who trusted in him so much as this 
centurion did. 

And because he trusted in him, Jesus said, 
his servant should be made well. And when 
the centurion's friends went back to his house, 
they found the servant was well. 




T?]^ 




CHAPTEE IX. 

THE next day Jesus went into a city called 
Nain. As he came near to the gate of 
the city, he met some people who were carry- 
ing out a dead man laid upon a bier. A bier 
is what dead persons are laid on when they 
are carried to the grave. 

And this man was being carried to his grave, 
to be buried. He was the only son that his 
mother had, and she was a widow, for her hus- 
band was dead. And now she was following 
after the bier, weeping, and many people of 
the city were with her. 

When Jesus saw her weeping he pitied 
her, and told her not to weep. Then he came 
to the bier on which her son lay and he 
touched the bier; and the men who were 
carrying it stood still. 

122 



124 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



And Jesus said, Young man, I say unto thee, 
Arise. Then he that was dead came to life 
again, and sat up and began to speak. And 
Jesus gave him to his mother. 

When the people saw the dead man come 
to life again, they were afraid. And they 
said that Jesus was a great prophet, and that 
it was God who had sent him to them. 

After this he went through the villages and 
cities preaching to the people who lived there. 
The twelve apostles were with him. 

And he was poor; for though he might 
have been rich (for every thing in the world 
was his), yet he chose to be poor, and to suffer 
punishment, and trouble, so that he might 
make us happy, in heaven, forever. 

And some of the women whom he had cured 
of sickness, and of evil spirits, gave him such 
things as he needed. One of these women was 
named Mary Magdalene, and another Joanna, 
and beside these there were many others that 
helped him. 

While great numbers of the people were 
around him, listening to what he said, Jesus 
spoke a parable to them. A parable is a story 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



125 



which has a meaning to it, and which helps 
us to understand and remember something we 
are learning. 




THE EICH MAN CANNOT FIND EOOM FOE HIS FETJIT8. 



Jesus told the people this parable to make 
them understand how foolish and wicked it 
was in any person to think that if he were 



126 THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 



only rich, then he would be happy, whether 
he obeyed God or not. 

The parable w:as about a rich man who had 
fields with grain and fruit growing in them. 
When the time came for these to be ripe, his 
servants went out and gathered them. 

But so much had grown in the rich man's 
fields that his barns would not hold all his 
servants gathered. Then he said to himself. 
What shall I do ? For I have no room to put 
away my grain and my fruits. 

And he answered, This is what I will do. 
I will pull down the barns that I have now, 
and build larger ones. There I will put away 
all my grain, and my fruits. Then I will say 
to myself, Now I can do as I choose, and enjoy 
myself, for I am rich and have enough fruits 
laid up to last me for many years. 

But as soon as the rich man had spoken 
these words God said to him, Thou foolish 
man, this night thou must die. Then who 
shall have all those riches that are laid up to 
last thee for many years? 

And this is the way, Jesus said, it would be 
with all those persons who care for nothing 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 



127 



else but to be rich in this world, and do not 
care to please God. 




THE EICH MAN DIES, 



Like the man in the parable, they will die 
when they are not expecting to, and then they 
will have to leave their riches for other per- 
sons, and go away themselves to a world where 
no riches have been laid up for them. 



128 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



Then Jesus told his disciples not to be 
anxious because they were poor, for fear they 
might have no food to eat, or clothes to wear. 

Think of the birds, he said, they do not 
plant grain out in the field, and when it grows 
ripe, cut it down and carry it to the barn to 
save it up there. Yet the birds always have 
enough to eat, because God feeds them. 

And look at the flowers, how they grow. 
They do not work and make clothes for them- 
selves like men. Yet they have brighter colors 
on them, and more beautiful dresses than even 
kings have. 

And if God gives such beautiful dresses to 
the flowers, that are worth so little, surely, 
Jesus said, he would give clothes to his disci- 
ples, though now they were afraid to trust 
in him. 

Therefore Jesus told them, not to be afraid 
that they would want food to eat and clothes 
to wear; for their heavenly Father knew that 
they wanted these things. But they should be 
careful, Jesus said, to obey God, so that he 
might take them for his children, and then 
God would give them everything they needed. 



130 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



As Jesus was walking on the shore of the 
sea of Galilee, a great multitude of people 




TOv^.^^. ^ 



ON THE HAED PATH, 



ON THE STONY GROUND. 



came to hear him, so that he went into a boat, 
as we read he did before, and sat down and 
taught the people out of the boat, while they 
stood listening to him on the shore. 

And he spoke a parable to them abou^ 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 131 



a farmer who went out into the field to sow 
his seed. The way he sowed it was to take 
handfuls of it and scatter it over the ground as 
he walked across the field. He did this so that 
the seed might take root, and grow up, and 
bear grain for him. 

And some of the seed that he scattered in 
this way, fell on the pathway where the people 
walked when they came in and out of the field. 

And because the ground was hard there, the 
seed did not sink down into it, where it could 
take root and grow, but it lay on the top of 
the ground. And presently the birds saw it, 
and flew down and ate it. 

Some more of the seed that the farmer 
scattered, fell on stony ground where there was 
only a little earth. Then it quickly took root 
and began to grow up, but because there was 
not room enough for it to make larger roots, 
it soon withered away and died. 

And some of the seed fell in a place where 
weeds and briars were growing; and the weeds 
and briars grew faster than the seed did, and 
they choked it and killed it. 

But the rest of the seed fell on good ground, 



132 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



that the farmer had ploughed and made all 
ready for it. And the rain fell on it and 




AMONG BRIARS. 



ON GOOD GROUND. 



watered it there, and the sun shone on it, and 
the seed grew up and bore grain, a great deal 
more than the farmer had planted. 

As soon as Jesus was alone with his disciples 
they asked him to explain to them what this 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 133 



parable meant. Then lie told them that the 
seeds the farmer sowed meant the words that 
he preached to the people. 

Some of the people would not listen to those 
words, or obey what he said to them. Such 
persons were like the ground where the seed 
would not grow. They were like the hard 
ground on the pathway, and like the stony 
ground, and the ground that had briars and 
weeds in it. 

But some of the people attended to his 
words, and obeyed what he told them. These 
were like the good ground, where the seed took 
root and grew. The words that Jesus spoke 
meant the seeds, and the ground meant the 
people's hearts. 

And the ground means your hearts, too. 
When you are being taught the things that 
Jesus said, then his words are being sown 
in your hearts. 

If you do not listen to them and mind them, 
you are like the bad and stony ground. But 
if you obey them, you are like the good ground, 
where the seed took root, and grew up and 
bore plenty of grain. 



134 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



Jesus spoke another parable, about a man 
who sowed wheat in his field. But after it was 
sown and the work was all done, his servants 
lay down and slept. 




THE ENEMY SOWS TAKES. 



While they were sleeping, an enemy came 
into the field and sowed tares, or weeds, among 
the wheat. He did this so softly that the 
servants did not hear him. Then he went 
away and they knew nothing of it. 

After a good many days, when the wheat 
had grown up, the servants went out into the 
field and looked at it. And there they saw tares 
growing among the wheat. Then they were 



THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 135 



surprised, and they came back to the owner of 
the field, and said to him, Sir, was it not good 
seed that was sown in thy field? 

He answered. Yes. Then they asked him 
how it was that tares were growing among the 
wheat. And the owner of the field knew who 
had done it, and he told his servants that an 
enemy had been there and sowed the tares. 

Then the servants asked him whether they 
should not go and pull up the tares. But he 
said No, for fear, while you are pulling up the 
tares, you may pull up the wheat also with 
them. Let both the tares and the wheat grow 
together until harvest, that is, until the time 
when the wheat is ripe. 

Then, the owner said, I will tell my reapers, 
when they go out and cut down the wheat, to 
gather the tares together first, and bind them in 
bundles and burn them. But the wheat they 
shall carry into my barn, and shall put it away 
safely there. 

Jesus explained this parable to his disciples 
also. The wheat and the tares mean all the 
people who live in this world. The wheat 
means the good people, and the tares mean the 




THE REAPP^RS BURN THE TARES. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 137 



wicked people. The enemy who sowed the 
tares means Satan, that is, he is the one who 
puts bad thoughts into people's hearts, and 
tempts, and persuades them to be wicked. 

And the good and the bad people, will live 
together in the world till the Judgment Day. 
Then God will send his angels to take the good 
up to heaven, but the bad will be sent away to 
the place of punishment. 





THE MUSTART> SEED JVST PLANTED. 



CHAPTER X. 



AND Jesus spoke a parable about the mus- 
- tard seed, which is one of the smallest of 
seeds. Yet in that country if a man take it 
and plant it in the ground, it grows up to be 

138 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 



139 



a tree, so large that the birds fly into it and 
sit among the branches. 




THE MUSTARD SEED GROWN UP. 



And our love to God is like the mustard 
seed, for at first it is very small. But if we 
keep on loving and obeying him, it grows 
larger and stronger until we love him more 



140 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



than we love any one else, and try harder in 
all we do to please him. 




THE LEAVEN HIDDEN IN THE FLOUR. 



Jesus spoke about the leaven, or yeast, that 
a woman takes when she is making bread out 
of flour. She puts this leaven into the dough, 
but only in one place. Then she covers it up 
and leaves it there. 

And in a little while the leaven spreads 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 141 



through every part of the dough, changing it 
from what it was before, and making it light, 
and good for food, when it is baked into bread. 

So it is with our heart when the Holy 
Spirit comes there. He comes to change it 
from being the wicked heart that it was before, 
and to take away its sin, and make every part 
of it new, and good, and clean. 

Jesus told a parable about a merchantman, 
or man who bought things to sell them again. 
This man in the parable bought pearls. Pearls 
are beautiful white stones that are worn as 
ornaments in rings, and bracelets, and neck- 
laces. They are found in oysters that lie on 
the bottom of the sea. 

Men dive down under the water and gather 
these oysters with their hands and bring them 
up on to the shore. Then they open them and 
take the pearls out of them, and sell the pearls. 
And now this merchantman was looking for 
pearls to buy. 

At last he saw one that was more beautiful 
than any he had ever seen before. But the 
person it belonged to asked so much for it, 
that the merchantman had not enough money 



142 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



to buy it with. Therefore, because he wanted 
it more than any thing else, he went away and 




THE MEKCHANTMAN SEES THE PRECIOUS PEARL. 



sold every thing he had, so that he might 
come back and buy that one precious pearl. 
And this is the way persons feel who want 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



143 



to have tlieir sins forgiven. They want it so 
mach that they cannot be happy till it is done; 




HK SELLS ALL HE HAS TO GO AND BUY IT. 

and they are willing to stop doing everything 
that displeases God, so that they can go to him, 
and ask him to forgive their sins for them. 
For until we stop doing the things he has 



144 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



told US not to do, we cannot expect God to for- 
give us, no matter how much we want him to 
do it, or how often we ask him. 

Jesus spoke another parable to his disciples, 
about the fishermen who fish with a net. They 
row out in their boat, taking their net with 
them. And as they row along they let their 
net drop down into the water to catch the fish 
that are there. 

Then they turn the boat around and row it 
slowly back to the shore, dragging the net after 
them. When they reach the shore, the fisher- 
men draw the net up out of the water, and take 
out the fish that have been caught in it. 

But the fish are of different kinds. Some 
of them are good ; these the men put in 
baskets to keep. And some are bad; these 
they throw away. 

And Jesus said that so it would be at the 
Judgment Day. For he told his disciples 
again, that the angels would come down from 
heaven on that day, and would separate the 
righteous from the wicked, and take the wicked 
to the place where they shall be punished. 

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10 



146 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



Master, I want to stay with thee and go with 
thee wherever thou goest. Jesus answered 
him, saying, The foxes have holes in the 
ground and the birds have nests, but I have 
not where to lay my head. 




JESUS HAS NOT WHERE TO LAY HIS HEAD. 

Jesus meant to tell the man, that he was 
poorer even than the foxes and the birds. 
For they had homes of their own where they 
might stay; but Jesus had no home, nor any 
place where he might go when he was tired, 
and lie down to rest. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



147 



In the evening, after he had spoken these 
things, both Jesus and his disciples went 




JESUS ASL££P IN THE 6X0KM. 



into a boat to sail over to the other side of 
the sea called the sea of Galilee. 



148 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



As they were going, there came a storm on 
the sea, and the great waves dashed into the 
boat and filled it with water, so that it was 
ready to sink. 

But Jesus was asleep, with his head resting 
on a pillow. And the disciples were greatly 
afraid, and they came to him and wakened 
him, saying, Lord save us, or we shall sink in 
the water and be drowned. 

Jesus rose up and spoke to the winds and 
the' waves, and he said to them, Peace, be still. 
And at once the winds stopped and blew no 
more, and the waves grew still and smooth. 

Then Jesus said to his disciples. Why were 
you afraid? How is it that you have no faith? 
He meant to ask them how they could be 
afraid, while he was with them, that the winds 
or the waves could do them any harm. 

And they sailed over to the other side of the 
sea. When Jesus came out of the boat, there 
met him a man who had an evil spirit. 

We have read before about evil angels, or 
spirits; that they have not bodies like ours, 
and can go into places where we cannot go; 
and that Satan used to send them sometimes 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL, 



149 



into men and women, and even into little chil- 
dren. Then the persons they went into had to 
do whatever the spirits made them do. 

And now an evil spirit had gone into the 
man who met Jesus. This spirit made the 
man act like a 
person who had 
lost his senses, 
and was crazy. 
He had torn off 
his clothes and 
was very fierce, 
so that every one 
was afraid to pass 
by that way. 

His friends had 
often put chains 
on him, to keep 
him at home, but he broke the chains and 
went and lived in the tombs, or caves, that had 
been hollowed out of rocks, to bury dead 
persons in. And always, both in the night 
and in the day, he was wandering in the tombs 
and in the mountains, crying out with a loud 
voice and cutting himself with stones. 




TOMB IN THE ROCK. 



150 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



But when he saw Jesus a good way off, he 
knew him and was afraid. And he ran to 
him, and bowed down at his feet, and said, 
What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son 
of God? I beg thee not to punish me before 
the Judgment Day. 

Now there was near the mountain a great 
herd of swine, or pigs, feeding. There were 
about two thousand of them. And the evil 
spirits that were in the man (for more than 
one had gone into him) begged Jesus that 
if he made them go out of the man, he would 
let them go into the herd of swine. 

Jesus said to them. Go. And when the 
spirits had come out of the man, they went 
into the herd of swine, and at once the whole 
herd ran down a steep place into the sea, and 
was drowned in the waters. 

And the men who took care of them made 
haste into the city that was near, and told the 
people of all that had happened. Then the 
people came out and they saw Jesus, and the 
man who before had the evil spirits ; but now 
he was sitting quietly, with his clothes on, and 
in his right mind. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



151 



When the men who took care of the swine 
told the people of what Jesus had done, and 





JESrS CASTS OUT THE EVIL SPIRITS. 



how the swine had been drowned in the sea, 
the people were afraid, and they begged Jesus 
to go away from their city. 



162 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL 



Then he went into the boat to go back to 
the other side of the sea. And the man out 
of whom he had sent the evil spirits, came and 
begged that he might go with him. 

But Jesus told him to go to his home and 
his friends, and to tell them how he had been 
made w^ell. Then the man went and began 
to tell all the people in that country what 
Jesus had done for him. 

Jesus went again into the city of Capernaum. 
And one of the rulers, or chief men of the 
synagogue in that city, came to him in great 
trouble, and kneeled down at his feet and said, 
My little daughter is sick, and I am afraid she 
will die. I pray thou wilt come and put thy 
hands on her, that she may get well. 

Jesus went with the man, and so did his 
disciples; and many other persons followed 
after him and crowded around him. 

Among them was a woman who had been 
sick for twelve years, with a disease which no 
doctor could cure. For she had tried many 
doctors, and given them all the money she had, 
but instead of being made better she rather 
grew worse. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 153 



When she heard that Jesus was there, she 
said to herself, If I can only come behind him 
in the crowd, and put out my hand and touch 
his clothes, I shall get well. 

So she came in the crowd behind Jesus and 
touched him, and as soon as she did it she felt 
that her sickness was cured. 

Then Jesus turned round toward the people 
that followed him, and said, Who touched me? 
His disciples, who had not seen the woman 
touch Jesus, answered him, saying. Thou seest 
how many persons are pressing against thee, 
and dost thou ask, Who touched me? 

But Jesus knew that some one had touched 
him and been made well, and he looked around 
to see her who had done this thing. 

When the woman saw that he knew it, and 
that she could not hide herself from him, she 
came trembling with fear, and kneeled down 
at his feet, and told before all the people why 
she had touched Jesus, and how in a moment 
she was made well. 

Then Jesus spoke kindly to her and told 
her not to be afraid, for he said, because she 
had faith and believed he could make her 




THE WOMAN TELLS HOW SHE WAS MADE WELL. 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 155 



well, she was made well of her sickness. 
While he was yet speaking to the woman, 
there came a messenger to the ruler of the 
synagogue who brought him word that his 
little daughter was dead. Therefore it was 
not worth while, the messenger said, to bring 
the Master any further. 

But when Jesus heard this, he said to the 
ruler of the synagogue. Do not fear; only 
trust in me, and thy daughter shall be made 
alive again. So they went on until they came 
to the ruler's house. 

When they came there all the people were 
weeping and crying out, because the child was 
dead. Jesus said to them. Why do you weep? 
The child is not dead, but sleeping. He meant 
that she would soon rise up from the dead, like 
one who wakes from sleep. 

But when he said this the people would not 
believe him, and they mocked him and laughed 
at what he told them. Then Jesus put them 
all out, and took three of his disciples, Peter 
and James and John, and also the father and 
mother of the child, and he went with them 
into the room where she lay. 




JESUS BltlNClS THE RULER'S DAUGHTER TO LIFE AGAIN. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



157 



And he took her by the hand, and said, I 
say to thee. Arise. As soon as he had spoken 
these words, she came to life again and rose 
up from her bed and walked. For she was 
twelve years old. And Jesus told her parents 
to give her some food. 





CHAPTER XI. 



AS Jesus went away from the ruler's house, 
- two blind men followed him. And they 
cried out after him, saying, Have mercy on us. 
They meant that he should make their eyes 
well, so they might see. 

Jesus asked them whether they believed he 
was able to do this. They answered, Yes, 
Lord. Then he told them that because they 
had faith in him, and believed he was able 
to do it, he would make them well. And he 
put out his hand and touched their eyes, and 
at once they could see. 

Then he said that they should tell no one 
who had cured them. But they were so glad 
to be made well that, when they went out of 
the house, they told the people in all that 
country what Jesus had done for them. 

Some persons brought to him a man who 
had an evil spirit. And the evil spirit would 
not let the man speak, so that he was dumb. 



158 



160 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



But Jesus made the spirit go out of the 
man, and he was able to speak after that. 

And all the people who had known that he 
was dumb, were surprised when they heard 
him speaking, and they said that they had 
never seen such a wonderful thing done before 
in the land of Israel. 

After this Jesus went into the cities and 
villages where the Jews lived, and he preached 
the Gospel to them. 

We have read, before, that Gospel means 
good news. And this is the good news of the 
Gospel, That Jesus came down from heaven 
to change our wicked hearts into good hearts, 
and to take away our sins, and to save us from 
being punished for them after we die. 

We deserve to be punished for them, and 
we should be punished if Jesus had not been. 
But he came down to this world on purpose to 
be punished in our place. 

And now he asks God to forgive us for the 
sins that he was punished for. And God is 
willing to do it if we repent of those sins, and 
stop doing them, and love and obey Jesus. 

But if we do not obey him, God will not 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 161 

forgive us, but he will punish us with all 
wicked people at the Judgment Day. 

And now Jesus went through the villages 
and cities, preaching the good news of the 
Gospel to the Jews who lived there. 

Yet he could not, by himself, preach to all 
the Jews in the land of Israel; there were too 
many of them. Therefore he called his twelve 
apostles to him, and sent them out also to 
preach to the people. 

Before they went he gave them power to do 
miracles; to send out evil spirits from persons 
who had them, to make sick people well, and 
dead people alive again. 

Jesus gave the apostles power to do miracles, 
so that when the people saw them doing these 
wonderful works, they might believe that God 
had sent them, and that the words which they 
spoke were true. 

Then the apostles went out into the different 
cities and towns, and preached to the people. 
Afterward they came back to Jesus and told 
him of everything they had done. 

And Jesus said to them. Come, let us go to 

some place alone, that you may rest awhile. 
11 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 163 



For there were so many persons around them, 
coming and going, that the apostles had not 
time to themselves even to eat. Then they 
went with Jesus into a boat, and sailed over 
to the other side of the sea of Galilee. 

But when the people heard of their going, 
they followed after Jesus, not in boats on the 
water, but on foot around by the side of the 
sea, until they came to the place where Jesus 
was. So many followed him, that a great 
multitude, or crowd, of men and women and 
children, came to that place. 

In the evening the apostles spoke to Jesus, 
and said. This is a lonely place, where there is 
nothing to eat, and it is now near night ; there- 
fore send the people away, that they may go 
into the villages that are near and buy them- 
selves food. Jesus said. They need not go 
away ; give you them something to eat. 

The apostles answered, Shall we go and buy 
as much as two hundred pennyworth of bread 
for them? And even if we should do this, 
there would not be enough to give each one a 
little. Jesus said to the apostles. How many 
loaves of bread have you? Go and see. 




JESUS FEEDS THE MULTITUDE. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 165 



When they knew, they answered, Five 
loaves of bread and two small fishes. 

Jesus told the apostles to make all the people 
sit down in rows on the green grass. And he 
took the five loaves and the two fishes into 
his hands, and looked up to heaven, and 
thanked God for them. 

Then he broke the loaves in pieces, and gave 
the pieces to the apostles; he gave them the 
fishes also. And the apostles took them from 
him and gave them to 
the people. And Jesus 
made those five loaves 
and two fishes to in- 
crease, and grow to be 
more and more, while 
the apostles were giving them, until thei'e was 
enough for all that great multitude. 

When they had done eating, Jesus told the 
apostles to gather up what was left, so that 
none of the food should be wasted, or lost. 
And they did as Jesus told them, and filled 
twelve baskets with the pieces left from the 
loaves and the fishes, after the people had eat- 
en as much as they wanted. Those that had 




166 THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 



eaten were about five thousand men, beside the 
women and children who were there. 

When the people saw this great miracle 
which Jesus had done, they wanted to take 
him and make him their king. 

But he left them, and went up on a mount- 
ain alone to pray. The apostles he sent 
away in a boat, to sail over to the other side 
of the sea of Galilee. 

In the evening they were out in the middle 
of the sea, rowing the boat with oars, because 
the wind was against them, but Jesus stood on 
the shore. From there he could see them in 
the boat, working at the oars, for the waves 
were rough and stormy. 

And in the night he went out to them, 
walking on the sea. When the apostles saw 
him coming, they were afraid, and said. It is 
a spirit. And they cried out with fear. But 
Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be not afraid, it is I. 

Then Peter answered out of the boat. Lord, 
if it be thou, bid me come to thee on the 
water. Jesus said to him. Come. And Peter 
got down out of the boat and walked on the 
water to go to Jesus. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



167 



But when he heard the noise of the wind 
and saw the great waves that were rolling and 




PETER WALKS ON THE WATER TO JESUS. 

dashing around him, he was afraid and began 
to sink, and he cried out, Lord, save me. 



168 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 

Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, 
and kept him from sinking. 

Then Jesus asked him why he had not faith ; 
that is, why he did not trust in him to keep 
him from harm. For if Peter had trusted in 
Jesus, and believed in his heart that Jesus 
would take care of him, he would have gone 
all the way safely without sinking down into 
the water. 

Then Jesus and Peter came into the boat, 
and the winds and waves were still ; and in a 
moment the boat came to the shore, at the very 
place where the apostles wanted to be. 

It was Jesus who had stilled the wind and 
the waves, and who made the boat come to the 
shore. And when the apostles saw this miracle, 
they bowed down and worshipped him, and 
said. Truly, thou art the Son of God. 

As soon as they had come out of the boat 
on to the land, the men who lived there knew 
that it was Jesus. And they made haste and 
ran through all that country, telling the people 
he had come. Then they began to carry sick 
persons, lying on their beds, to the place where 
Jesus was. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 169 



And wherever he went, into cities and vil- 
lages, they brought those who were sick and 
laid them in the streets, and begged him to let 
them only touch his clothes; and every one 
who touched liim was made well. 




JESUS HEALS THE SICK. 



Jesus went into another country that was 
near to the land of Israel. And a woman 
who lived there came to him, and told him 
that an evil spirit had gone into her daughter, 
and she begged him to send the spirit out. 

At first Jesus turned away as if he would 
not listen to the woman, because she did not 
belong to his own country and his ov/n nation. 




A WOMAN BEGS JESUS TO CUKE HEE DAUGHTER. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 171 



ETe did this only to try whether she really 
believed he could cure her child. 

But when she saw him turn away, she did 
not stop praying to him. Instead of doing so 
she prayed the more earnestly, and kneeled 
down at his feet, saying, Lord, help me! 

Then Jesus told her that because she had 
faith, and believed he was able to make her 
daughter well, he would make her well. And 
when the woman went back to her house she 
found the evil spirit gone out, and her daughter 
laid upon the bed. 

Jesus fed the multitude a second time with 
only a few loaves and fishes. For a great 
number of peo^ole had come to hear him, and 
had been with him three days, and now they 
had nothing to eat. 

And he said to his disciples. If I send them 
from here without any food, they will grow 
tired and weak before they get to their homes, 
for many of them have come a long way. And 
he asked the disciples. How many loaves of 
bread have you ? They answered, Seven, and 
a few small fishes. 

Then Jesus commanded the people to sit 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 173 



down on the ground. And he took the seven 
loaves and the fishes, and thanked God for 
them; and he broke the loaves in pieces, and 
gave the pieces to the disciples, and they gave 
them to the people. 

And Jesus made these few loaves and fishes 
to increase (as he did before when he fed the 
multitude) until every one had enough. And 
they gathered up of the pieces that were left, 
seven baskets full. Those who had eaten 
were about four thousand; and after he had 
fed them, Jesus sent them away. 

He came to a city called Bethsaida, and they 
brought a blind man to him, and begged Jesus 
to touch him that he might be made well. 

Jesus took him by the hand and led him 
out of the town. And he spat on his eyes, 
and put his hands on them, and asked the 
blind man whether he could see. 

He answered that he could see, but not well, 
for the men who were passing by seemed so 
tall and high, that they looked like trees 
walking. Then Jesus put his hands again 
on the man's eyes and made him look up, 
and now he could see every thing clearly. 




CHAPTEE XII. 



AFTER these things Jesus took three of 
his apostles, named Peter and James and 
John, and he went up with them on a lonely 
mountain to pray. 

While he was praying his face was changed, 
so that it looked bright and shining like the 
sun ; and his clothes looked white as snow. 

And all at once two men came there, named 
Moses and Elijah, But they did not look like 
other men : they looked more beautiful. For 
these two men had come from the world where 
good people go when they die. 

We do not know where that world is. But 
these two men lived in that world, and now 
they had come back to this world where we 
live, and where they used to live. But they 

174 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 175 



had come back for only a little while to talk 
with Jesus. And presently a bright cloud 




JESUS IS TEANSFIGUEED, OR CHANGED, ON THE MOUNTAIN. 

came on the mountain, and it covered the 
three apostles, and they heard a voice speak- 
ing out of the cloud. It was God's voice. It 



176 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



said that Jesus was God's dear Son, and that 
the apostles should mind him. 

When the apostles heard God's voice, they 
were very much afraid; and they kneeled 
down and put their faces to the ground. But 
Jesus came and put his hand on them, and 
told them to stand up and not be afraid. 

And they stood up and looked around, but 
Moses and Elijah were not there now : they 
had gone back to that beautiful world from 
which they came. And Jesus told the apos- 
tles not to tell any one of the things they had 
seen, until after he was dead and had come to 
life again from being dead. 

Then the apostles asked one another what 
he could mean by saying he would come to 
life again from the dead. We shall read 
afterward what Jesus meant by saying this. 

The next day when they had come down 
from the mountain, a man came to Jesus and 
kneeled down before him, and said. Master, I 
pray thee, help my son ; for he is my only 
child. 

And an evil spirit has gone into him that 
makes him fall sometimes into the fire, and 




12 



178 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



sometimes into the water, trying to kill him. 
I took him to thy apostles for them to make 
the evil spirit go out, but they could not. 

Jesus answered, Bring thy son to me. As 
they brought him the spirit threw him down, 
and he rolled on the ground and foamed at 
the mouth. 

Jesus asked the man how long ago it was 
when the spirit went into his son. The man 
answered, When he was a child. Jesus said to 
the evil spirit, I tell thee to come out of him, 
and go no more into him. 

Then the spirit cried with a loud voice, and 
came out of the young man, but he shook him 
greatly, and left him lying on the ground, 
weak and not able to move, like a person who 
is dead, so that many of those who saw him 
said, He is dead. 

But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted 
him up, and he stood on his feet and was well. 
And Jesus gave him to his father. 

Now the men who lived in the different 
cities of the land of Israel used to send money 
to the priests, or ministers, who stayed at the 
temple in Jerusalem. Each man sent a piece 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 179 



of silver money to them every year. Then 
the priests took this money and they bought 
with it such things as were needed in worship- 
ping God at the temple. 

While Jesus and his apostles were in the 
city of Capernaum, some men came and asked 
Peter whether his Master, (that was, Jesus,) 
would give them some money to send to the 
priests at the temple. 

Jesus knew they had asked this. And when 
he came into the house he told Peter to go to 
the sea-shore, which was not far off, and to 
throw a hook and line into the water; and as 
soon as a fish was caught on it, to take the 
fish up and look into its mouth. 

There, Jesus said, Peter would find a piece 
of money; and he said to him, Give that to 
the men for me and for thee. Then Peter did 
as Jesus told him, and he found the piece of 
money in the fish's mouth, and took it and 
gave it to the men. 

As the disciples were walking together they 
began to dispute, or quarrel, with one another 
about which of them should be greatest, for 
they thought that Jesus did not hear them. 




PETEB CATCHES THE FISH. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 181 



But he could tell, without hearing them, what 
it was they said. 

Afterward he spoke to them and asked them 
what they were disputing about as they walked 
by the way. But they were ashamed and did 
not answer him. 

Then he called a little child and set him 
among them. And Jesus told the disciples 
that unless they stopped being proud and 
wanting to rule over one another, they could 
not be God's children. 

The one who was greatest among them, Jesus 
said, was the one who was most humble and 
willing to obey, like that little child.' 

And as he was teaching them he said, If thy 
hand or thy foot make thee do wrong, cut it 
off and throw it from thee. 

He meant that if any of the things which 
we do are wrong and wicked, we must stop 
doing those things, no matter how much we love 
to do them ; even if it be as hard to stop as it 
would be to cut off our hand or our foot. 

For it would be better, Jesus said, not to do 
those things and be taken up to heaven at the 
Judgment Day, than it would to go on doing 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL, 183 



them and be sent into hell, where we should be 
punished for them forever. 

Jesus told the disciples that if one of them 
should do wrong to another, and afterward 
should say he was sorry for it, the one he had 
done wrong to must forgive him. 

Peter asked how many times he should 
forgive him, whether it should be as many as 
seven times. Jesus told Peter that they should 
forgive one another not only seven times, but 
seventy times seven. He meant that they should 
do it as often as they were asked to forgive. 

Then he spoke a parable about a king whose 
servants owed him money ; and the king want- 
ed them to pay this money. And one of the 
servants was brought who owed him a great 
deal, as much as many thousands of dollars. 
But he had nothing to pay the king with. 

Now in that country when a man owed 
money and could not pay it, the person he 
owed it to might take him and his wife and 
his children, and sell them for slaves. 

And because this servant could not pay 
what he owed the king, the king said that the 
servant, and his wife, and his children, should 



184 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



be sold. And the money that was given for 
them was to be paid to the king. 

But when the servant heard this he was in 
great trouble, and he kneeled down at the 
king's feet, and said, that if the king would 
only wait awhile and have patience with him, 
he would pay him all that he owed him. 

He would work and earn the money, or he 
would get it from persons who owed money to 
him: then, he said, he would come back and 
pay the king. 

When the king heard what he said, and saw 
what trouble he was in, he pitied him so much 
that he forgave him the debt altogether, and 
told him that he need not pay it at all. 

But after the king had forgiven him, this 
same servant went out and met another of the 
king's servants, who owed him some money„ 
It was not much this fellow-servant owed him, 
only a hundred pence. Yet he was so poor he 
had nothing to pay it with. 

Then the king's servant was very angry 
with his fellow-servant, and he caught him by 
the throat, and said to him. Pay me what thou 
owest. And his fellow-servant kneeled down 



THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 



185 



at his feet and begged that he would have 

patience with 

him, and wait 

awhile, for 

then, he said, 

he would pay 

him all. 

But the 
king's servant 
would not wait. 
He took his 
fellow-servant 
to prison, to be 
shut up there 
until he should 
pay the debt. 

When the 
other servants 
who were in the 
king's house saw what had been done, they 
were very sorry, and they went and told the 
king. 

Then the king called his servant, and said 
to him, O thou wicked servant, I pitied thee 
and forgave thee when thou didst ask me; 




THE rVFOBGIVING SERVANT. 



186 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



and shouldest thou not have pitied thy fellow- 
servant, as I pitied thee? 

And the king was greatly displeased, and 
sent him away to be punished till he should 
pay all that he owed him. 

In this parable the king means God, and 
the servant who owed him so much means us, 
because we have sinned so often against him. 
The king punished that servant because he 
would not forgive his fellow -servant, and so 
God will punish us if we do not forgive one 
another our trespasses, or sins. 








CHAPTEE XIII. 



AS Jesus and his apostles were going toward 
-^ the city of Jerusalem, they came near to 
a village where some people lived who were 
called Samaritans. And Jesus sent some of 
his apostles into the village, to ask if he might 
stop there and rest and have food to eat. 

Now the Samaritans had quarreled -with the 
Jews and were enemies to them. And because 
Jesus was a Jew, they would not allow him 
to stop at their village. Then two of his 
apostles, named James and John, were very 
angry, and they came to Jesus and asked him 
if he would not let them call down fire from 
the sky to burn up the Samaritans. 

But Jesus was displeased with James and 
John for asking him this ; he told them that 
he had not come into the world to destroy 

187 



188 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



men's lives, that is, to kill them; but he had 
eome to save them from death. 

And he did nothing to punish the Samari- 
tans for their unkindness, but he went on to 
another village and stopped there to rest. 

I have told you about the leprosy, that it 
was a dreadful disease which no one but God 
could cure; and that any person Avho got it, 
had to leave his family and his home and go 
away to live alone, or else with other persons 
only who had the leprosy like himself. 

As Jesus and his apostles were going toward 
Jerusalem, there met him ten men who had 
this dreadful disease. These men were not 
allowed to touch, or even to come anywhere 
near, persons who were well. 

Therefore they did not come near to Jesus 
and his apostles, but they stood a good way 
off and cried out with loud voices, saying, 
Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. They meant 
that he should make them well. 

Now when any person had been sent away 
from his home because he had the leprosy, 
even if he got well, he could not go back there 
until he went to the priest. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



189 



Then the priest looked at him to see if he 
was really well, and if he was the priest gave 




THSOWINO MONEY TO LEPEES OUTSIDE OF JEEUSALEM. 



him permission to go to his home, and live with 
his family and friends again. 



190 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



When Jesus heard these poor men crying 
out to him, he told them to go and show 
themselves to the priest. They went, and 
while they were going were all made well. 

And one of them when he saw that he was 
well, came back to Jesus and kneeled down 
at his feet and thanked him for curing him. 
Then Jesus said. Were there not ten who were 
cured ? Where are the other nine ? Only this 
one comes back to thank God for what has 
been done to him. 

Let us remember, whenever we have been 
sick and got well again, to thank God for it. 
For no matter what doctor we had, or what 
medicine we took, they could not have cured 
us unless God had made them able to do it. 

Jesus spoke a parable about a man who went 
on a journey from the city of Jerusalem to 
another city a good way off, named Jericho, 
Now the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was 
very lonely and wild, and there were rocks and 
caves beside it where thieves used to hide. 

As this man was going along the road, 
suddenly some thieves came out from their 
hiding place, and stopped him. And they 



THE STOET OF THE GOSPEL. 191 



robbed him of all that he had, and took even 
his clothes from him. They not only did this, 
but they beat him and wounded him and then 
went away and left him half dead. 

While he was lying on the ground, too weak 
to get up, there happened to come a priest that 
way. Now the wounded man was a Jew, and 
the priest was a Jew also. 

Beside this, the priest was a minister who 
stayed at the temple and taught the people to 
obey God and love one another. Therefore 
we should think that the priest would surely 
be kind to this poor wounded Jew, 

But he was not ; for when he came near him 
he pretended not to see him, and crossed over 
to the other side of the road and passed by. 
He did this because he did not want the trouble 
of taking care of him himself, or to pay any 
one else for taking care of him. 

After the priest had passed by, a man, called 
a Levite, came that way. This Levite was a 
Jew too; and he was one of the men who 
helped the priests in teaching the people to 
obey God and be kind to one another. 

Yet he did not help the wounded man either. 




THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 193 



but he passed on as the priest had done, and 
left him lying where he found him. 

But after the priest and the Levite had 
gone, a man who was a Samaritan came to that 
place. Now we have read that the Jews and 
the Samaritans were not friends with each 
other, for they had quarreled and were ene- 
mies. Therefore we should not be surprised to 
hear that this Samaritan had gone by without 
helping the wounded Jew. 

But he did not do so. For when he saw 
him he pitied him, and went to him and tied 
up his wounds, and poured oil and wine on 
them to make them well. Then he lifted him 
up on the beast that he rode, and took him to 
an inn that was near, and he nursed him there 
all that night. 

The next day the Samaritan had to go on 
his journey, but before he went he took out 
some money and gave it to the man who kept 
the inn, and told him to take care of the 
wounded Jew. If it should cost any more 
than the money he gave him, the Samaritan 
said he would pay it when he came to the inn 
at another time. 

13 



194 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



In this parable we learn what it is that 
makes us a friend, or neighbor, to another 
person. It is not belonging to the same 
country, or nation, that makes us his neighbor. 
Even belonging to the same church does not. 

The priest and the Levite belonged to the 
same nation and the same church with the 
wounded Jew, yet neither of them was his 
neighbor. But the Samaritan, who belonged 
to another nation, was his neighbor because 
he was kind to him. 

Jesus meant to teach us by this parable that 
we should be like the Samaritan, that is, we 
should be a neighbor, or a friend, to every 
person we can do any good to, no matter if 
he be a stranger or even an enemy to us. 

Jesus came to a village called Bethany, 
which was a little way from the city of Jeru- 
salem. A woman named Martha lived there, 
and she asked him to come to her house. 
Martha had a sister named Mary. When 
Jesus came into the house, Mary, instead of 
going on with her work, sat down by his feet 
that she might listen to the things that he 
taught. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



195 



Then Martha, because she had to do the 
work alone, was displeased with her sister 




JESUS AT BETHANY. 



And she came to Jesus and asked him if he 
would not bid Mary come and help her. 



THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 



But Jesus told Martha that Mary did right 
in attending to the things he taught. There 
was one thing, he said, it was more important 
we should have than any thing else; and Mary 
had chosen that one thing, and it should never 
be taken from her, Jesus meant that Mary 
had chosen to love God in her heart, and to 
be one of his children, so that she might have 
her sins forgiven. 





CHAPTER XIV. 

JESUS taught his disciples what they should 
say when they prayed to God. He said, 
When you pray, say, 

Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed 
be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will 
be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us 
this day our daily bread. And forgive us our 
trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass 
against us. And lead us not into temptation, 
but deliver us from evil ; for thine is the king- 
dom, the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. 

This is called the Lord's Prayer, because the 
Lord Jesus taught it to the apostles. It was 
meant not only for them to say, but for us 
too. When we say it we must think of what 
it means. For unless we do this, and really 

197 



198 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



want the things we ask for, God will not listen 
to us or give us those things. 

Now I want you to attend while I try and 
explain to you what the words in the Lord's 
Prayer mean. 

Our Father who art in heaven. 

When we say these 
words we are speaking 
to God. For he is our 
Father in heaven and we 
are his children. 

We have a father and 
mother in this world, who 
love us and take care of 
us. But our Father in 
heaven loves us more and 
cares more for us, than 
they can; and we should 
love him better than any one else. 
Hallowed be thy name, 
God's name is hallowed, or kept holy, when 
we always remember to speak it carefully, 
because it is his great and holy name. 

But sometimes persons forget this, and speak 
the holy name of God, or of the Lord, when 





THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL 

they are 

angry, or 

not thinking 

of what they say, or 

are only in fun. This 

is a great sin. 

Now when we say. 
Hallowed be thy name, 
we ask God never to let 
us, or any one else, sin 
in this way again. 

Thy Kingdom come, 

God is not only our 
Father, but he is our 
King. All the people who obey him belong 
to his Kingdom. But many people obey Satan, 
and take him for their king. So that Satan 
has a kingdom, too. 

When we say in the Lord's Prayer, Thy 
Kingdom come, we ask God to ]3ut down 
Satan's kingdom, and to make all the people 
belong to God's Kingdom. 

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, 

God's will is done when people obey him. 
We know it is done in heaven, for the angels 




200 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



live there and they all obey God. And some 
of the people who live on earth obey him. 
But in this prayer we ask that every one on 
the earth may obey God and do his will, as the 
angels do it in heaven. 

Give us this day our daily bread. 

Every day we need food to eat. Although 
we ate all we wanted yesterday, we need more 
to-day, and we shall need more to-morrow, and 
every day as long as we live. 

The food we need each day is called our 
daily bread. When we say, Give us this day 
our daily bread, we ask God for it. 

Perhaps it may seem as if it* did not come 
from God, because our parents, or our friends, 
give it to us. But they could not give it to 
us if God did not give them the strength to 
work for it, or the money to buy it with. 

So that God is the One who really gives us 
our daily bread, and we should ask him for it 
when we need it, and remember to thank him 
for it when he gives it to us. 

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive 
those who trespass against us. 

Our trespasses mean our sins. If we ask 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 201 



God to forgive our sins, we ought to be willing 
to forgive other persons who sin against us. 

And in this prayer we ask God to forgive 
us just as we forgive them. So that unless we 
forgive others, we cannot expect God to forgive 
us our trespasses, or sins. 

And lead us not into temptation, 

AVhen a person ]3ersuades us to do any thing 
that will displease God, then he is tempting 
us, or leading us into temptation. Very often 
Satan leads us into temptation ; and sometimes 
our own wicked hearts, or our wicked com- 
panions, do it. 

"When we say. Lead us not into temptation, 
we are asking God not to let Satan, or any 
one else, tempt us to displease him any more. 

But deliver us from evil. 

There are two kinds of evil: one is doing 
wrong, that is, sinning. This is the worst 
kind. The other kind is having sickness, and 
pain, and trouble. God is willing to deliver, 
or save, us from both kinds of evil if we love 
and obey him. 

For thine is the Kingdom, 

A kingdom is a country that is ruled over 



202 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



by a king. There are a great many different 
countries and kings in this world. But God 
rules over them all, for he is the King of 
kings. And he is King in heaven, too. That 
is the reason we say. Thine is the Kingdom. 

And thine is the power, 

God is the only one who is able, and has the 
power, to give us the things we ask for in the 
Lord's Prayer. No one else can keep Satan 
from tempting us, and can save us from sick- 
ness and trouble, and can forgive our sins. 

And thine is the glory, forever. Amen, 

Glory means praise and honor. Sometimes 
when a king, or great man, rides through a 
city, all the people come out into the streets, 
or stand at their windows, waving flags and 
banners and calling out his name, to show 
how glad they are to see him. Then the king 
has praise and honor and glory. 

We do not praise God in this way. But we 
sing hymns to him, and praise him in our 
hearts, because he is so good and great, and so 
kind to us. 

And all the angels up in heaven praise and 
honor God. So we see how he has the king- 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 203 



dom, and the power, and the glory. And he 
will have these things forever. 

The last word in the Lord's Prayer is, Amen, 
Amen means, So may it be. And when we 
say, Amen, we mean that we hope God will 
make every thing to be as we have asked in 
the prayer we have just said to him. 

Jesus not only taught the disciples to say 
the Lord's Prayer, but he taught them to pray 
for all the things they needed. And he said 
that God would give them those things. 

For he asked them whether they did not 
give their children the things they asked for. 
Suppose one of them should ask for a piece 
of bread, he said, would they give it a stone 
to eat? Or if it should ask for a fish, would 
they give it a serpent, or snake, instead? 

Then Jesus told the disciples that if they 
gave good things to their children, surely God 
would give good things to the persons who 
loved him and prayed to him for them. 

Jesus chose seventy more of his disciples, 
beside the twelve apostles, to go and preach 
the Gospel to the people. And the seventy 
disciples went and preached as Jesus told them 



204 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



to. Afterward they came back to him, and 
told him of all they had done. 

And they were full of joy because they had 
been able to make evil spirits go out of persons 
who had them. For Jesus had given the dis- 
cij)les power to do this when he sent them out 
to preach to the people. And they were glad 
when they found that the evil spirits had to 
obey them. 

But Jesus told them they should not be so 
glad that the evil spirits would obey them, as 
that God had forgiven their sins, and taken 
them for his children. 





CHAPTEK XV. 

AS Jesus was coming from the temple on the 
Sabbath-day, he saw a blind man sitting 
in the street, begging. And Jesus stopped and 
spat on the ground, and made clay of the spit- 
tle, and he put the clay on the blind man's eyes. 
Then he told him to go and wash his eyes in 
a pool of water, called the pool of Siloam. 

The blind man went therefore, and washed, 
and when he came back he could see. But it 
was not the clay, nor the water in the pool, but 
Jesus, who had made him able to see. 

Then the neighbors who had known the 
blind man before, were surprised when tliey 
saw him walking by himself like any other 
person, with no one to lead him. 

They said, Is not this the blind man that 
used to sit in the street and beg? Some 
answered, Yes, this is he. Others said. It is 

205 




THE BLIND MAN WASHES IN THE POOL OF SILOAM. 



THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 207 



not the blind man, but another man that looks 
like him. But the man himself said, I am he. 

Therefore they spoke to him, and asked him 
how it was that he could see. He answered, 
A man that is named Jesus, made clay and put 
it on my eyes, and said to me. Go to the pool 
of Siloam and wash. And I went and washed, 
and after that I could see. 

But the Jews who talked with him were not 
satisfied with what he told them about the way 
he was made able to see; so they brought him 
to the Pharisees. 

Now the Pharisees, as we have read, were 
not good men, but were hypocrites ; they pre- 
tended to be good while, in their hearts, they 
were wicked. And they hated Jesus because 
he could see their hearts and knew all their 
wicked thoughts. 

When the people brought the man who had 
been blind to the Pharisees, they asked him 
how he had been made well. He told them 
that Jesus had made him well. Then the 
Pharisees found fault with Jesus. They said 
he ought not to have cured the man on the 
Sabbath day, because God had told them not 



208 



THE STORY OP THE GOSPEL. 



to work on that day. But God had told them 
to help the poor and the sick every day, and 
they found fault with Jesus for doing this on 




THE PHARISEES QUESTION THE MAN WHO HAD BEEN BLIND. 

the Sabbath day, only because they hated him 
and wanted to find fault with him. And the 
Pharisees went to the father and mother of the 
man who had been blind, and said to them, Is 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 209 



this your son who, you say, was born blind ? 
How is it then that he can now see ? 

His father and mother answered, We know 
that this is our son, and that he was born blind ; 
but how it is that he can now see, we know not. 
He is old enough to tell you himself, ask him. 
His j)arents said this because they were afraid 
the Pharisees would be angry with them and 
do them some harm, if they said that it was 
Jesus who cured their son. 

Then the Pharisees called the man again, 
and told him not to thank Jesus for making 
him well, but to thank God for it, because 
they knew that Jesus was a sinner. 

The man answered that this was a strange 
thing for them to say about Jesus; for if he 
were a sinner, God would not have helped Jesus 
to make him well. And if God had not helped 
him, Jesus could not have done it; for such a 
miracle was never heard of before, the man 
said, as to cure a person who had been born 
blind and make him able to see. 

Then the Pharisees were very angry with 
the man when he said this; and they forbade 
him to go and visit his friends, or to come 



14 



210 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



with them into the synagogue. They did this 
because they wanted to punish him. 

Jesus heard what they had done to the man, 
and when he found him, he said to him, Dost 
thou believe in the Son of God? The man 
answered, Who is he. Lord, that I may believe 
in him ? The man asked this because he did 
not know who Jesus was ; he knew only that 
Jesus had cured him of his blindness. 

Then Jesus said to him, It is the Son of God 
who is speaking to thee. When the man heard 
these words, he answered. Lord, I believe in 
him. And he knelt down at the feet of Jesus, 
and worshipped him. 

Jesus said to his disciples, I am the good 
shepherd and know my sheep. He meant that 
he was like a shepherd to his disciples, and 
they were like his flock of sheep, because he 
loved them and took care of them. 

In that country the shepherds did not walk 
behind their flocks, to drive them, as they do 
here. They walked before their flocks, and 
the sheep followed them. Each sheep had its 
name, and knew the shepherd's voice, and came 
when he called it. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



211 



The shepherd stayed with his sheep all 
night to keep them from being lost, and to 
guard them from wild beasts. 




AN EASTEEN SHEPHERD. 



So Jesus is always with those persons who 
love him, though they cannot see him. He 
keeps Satan from hurting them, and shows 
them the way that leads up to heaven. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 213 



We have read that when Jesus was in the 
town of Bethany, a woman named Martha 
asked him to her house. And Martha had a 
sister named Mary, who, when Jesus came, sat 
down at his feet, and listened to the things 
that he taught. 

Now Martha and Mary had a brother named 
Lazarus. And after Jesus had gone away 
from Bethany, Lazarus was sick. Therefore 
his sisters sent word to Jesus, to tell him tlieir 
brother was sick. 

Jesus loved Martha, and Mary, and Lazarus, 
yet when he heard their message he did not 
go to them at once, but stayed two days longer 
in the place where he was. Then he said to 
his disciples. Let us go to Bethany, for our 
friend Lazarus is sleeping, and I will go and 
waken him out of his sleep. 

Jesus meant that Lazarus was dead, and that 
he was going to raise him up from the dead. 

So Jesus and his disciples came to the town 
of Bethany. And Martha, as soon as she 
heard he had come, went out to meet him but 
Mary sat still in the house. 

Then Martha, when she met Jesus, said to 



214 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 

him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother 
would not have died. She meant that Jesus, 
because he had the power of God, could have 
saved Lazarus from dying. 

Then she went back to the house and told 
Mary that Jesus had come. And Mary rose 
up quickly and went out also, to meet him ; 
and she was weeping for sorrow because her 
brother was dead. 

When Jesus saw her weeping, and her 
friends weeping with her, he was troubled. 
And he, too, wept. The people who were 
there said, See how he loved Lazarus. Jesus 
asked them where they had buried him. And 
they brought him to the grave. It was a cave, 
and a stone was rolled to the door of it. 
Jesus said. Take away the stone. 

Now the Jews when they buried a dead 
person, wrapped his body in linen cloths, or 
bandages, and they fastened a napkin, or 
towel, about his head. In this way they 
had buried Lazarus. 

After the stone was taken away from the 
mouth of the cave, Jesus cried out with a loud 
voice, Lazarus, come forth. And as soon as 



216 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



he had spoken these words, Lazarus came out 
of the cave alive, with his hands and his feet 
bound in grave clothes, and his face tied 
around with a napkin. 

Jesus said to the persons who were standing 
by, Loose him, and let him go. Then many 
of the people, when they saw this great miracle 
which Jesus did, believed in him that he was 
the Son of God. 

But some of them went and told the Phari- 
sees what they had seen. And the Pharisees 
were not pleased. They did not want any one 
to believe in Jesus. And they said to one 
another. What shall we do? If we let him 
go on doing miracles, all the people in the 
land of Israel will believe in him. 

From that time they tried to find out some 
way of putting him to death. 

On the Sabbath day Jesus went into the 
synagogue, and taught the people who were 
there. Among them was a woman who had 
been sick for eighteen years, and her sickness 
had bent down her body so that she could not 
straighten herself, or lift herself up. 

When Jesus saw her he called her to him, 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 217 



and said, Woman thou art made well of thy 
sickness. Then he put his hands on her, and 
at once she could lift herself up, and was 
made straight. As soon as she found she 
could do this she was so glad that she spoke 
out loud, and thanked God because she was 
made well. 

But the chief man, or ruler, of the syna- 
gogue, was angry because Jesus had done this 
miracle. Like the Pharisees he did not want 
the people to believe in him. And because 
Jesus had cured the woman on the Sabbath 
dav, the ruler said he had worked on that 
day, and disobeyed God. 

Then the ruler told the people there were 
six days in the week when it was right ^to 
work. If any of them were sick, he said, 
and wanted to be made well, they should come 
then and not on the Sabbath day. 

But Jesus asked the ruler of the synagogue, 
and the other Jews who found fault with him, 
whether they did not go on the Sabbath day 
and untie the oxen and asses in the stable, 
and lead them out to drink. And if it were 
right to do this for the dumb beasts, and to be 



218 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



kind to them, was it not right, Jesus asked, to 
make this poor woman well on the Sabbath day. 
When he said this the men who had found 
fault with him were ashamed, but all the rest 
of the people were glad for the wonderful 
things he had done. 





CHAPTER XVI. 

ON another day Jesus went into the house 
where one of the Pharisees Uved. While 
he was there he spoke a parable about a man 
who made a great supper. 

When the food had been put on the table 
and every thing was ready, the man sent out 
his servant to tell the persons who were asked 
that it was time for them to come. But they 
did not want to come to his supper, and each 
one of them began to make some excuse for 
staying away. 

The first one said he had bought some land 
and must go and see it, and therefore he asked 
to be excused from coming. Another said he 
had bought five pairs of oxen, and that he was 
going to try whether they worked well, and he 
asked if he might not be excused. Another 
said he had just been married, and therefore 
he could not come, 

219 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 221 



And the servant came back and told his 
master what the men said. Then his master 
was very angry at the men who were not 
willing to come to the supper, which he had 
been so kind as to make ready for them. 

And he told his servant to go out into the 
streets and lanes of the city, and to bring in 
all the persons he met. He told him to bring 
in even the poor, and the blind, and the lame, 
that they might eat of his supper. For those 
men who were asked first, he said, should not 
come to it at all. 

I have told you that every parable Jesus 
spoke means something. For he did not tell 
them only to amuse and interest us, like stories, 
but to make us understand, and remember 
better, the things that he wanted us to learn. 

In this parable, the master who gave the 
supper means God. The good things that 
were set on the table, mean the good news of 
the Gospel. 

The men who were invited and would not 
come, mean those who would not listen to the 
Gospel when Jesus preached it to them. The 
persons who were brought into the supper 



222 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



afterward mean those who did listen to it, and 
obey what Jesus said. 

By the poor, and the lame, and the blind 
being brought in, we are taught that God 
wants every body, whether he is rich or poor, 
or sick or well, to obey the Gospel and have 
his sins forgiven. 

Jesus told the people who came to listen to 
his teaching, that if they wanted to be his 
disciples, they must take up their cross and 
follow him. He meant that they must follow 
his example and do what is right, no matter 
how hard and unpleasant that may be. 

Very often it is easier and pleasanter to do 
the thing that is wrong than the thing that is 
right. Then if we do the thing that is right, 
we are taking up the cross. 

To do any unpleasant thing, just because it 
is right, and will please God, is taking up our 
cross. And Jesus says we cannot be his disci- 
ples unless we do this. 

And some men who before that time had 
been wicked, came to Jesus for him to teach 
them. But when the Scribes and Pharisees 
saw them coming, they found fault with Jesus 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



223 




for letting them come, and they said that he 
made friends of these men who were sinners. 

Then Jesus told the 
Scribes and Pharisees 
two short parables; he 
said, Which of you who 
has a hundred sheep, if 
he lose one of them, does 
not leave all the rest 
and go after the one that 
is lost till he find it? 

When he has found it, he is glad, and he 
lifts it up on his shoulders and carries it home 
rejoicing. As soon as he comes there he 
says to his neighbors and friends, Rejoice with 
me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. 

Or what woman who has a hundred pieces 
of silver money in the house, if she lose one 
piece, does not light a candle and sweep the 
house and look carefully till she find it? 

And when she has found it, she, too, says to 
her neighbors, Eejoice with me, for I have 
found the piece which was lost. 

Jesus meant by these two parables to teach 
the Scribes and Pharisees that the wicked men 



224 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



who came to hear him were like the lost sheep 
and the lost piece of silver, because these men 
had done wrong, and had not obeyed God. Yet 
Jesus would not forbid them to come to him 




THK LOST SHEEP. 



on this account. He would rather go after 
them and persuade them to come, so that he 
might teach them to repent of their sins and 
do as God told them. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



225 



For he said that whenever any wicked man 
repented of his sins and began to obey God, 




THB SHEEP FOUND. 



even the angels, that live up in heaven, were 
glad and rejoiced at it. 

Then he spoke a parable about a man who 



15 



226 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



had two sons. One day the younger son came 
to his father, and asked him to give him his 




THE LOST PIECE OV SILVER. 



share of the money that his father had saved 
up for his children. And his father gave him 
his share. 



THE STOKY OF THE fS^OSPEL. 



227 



ISTot many days after this, the younger son 
took all that his father had given him, and 
went away from his home, 
to a country that was far 
off, and there he chose 
wicked persons for his 
friends, and he went with 
them and Avasted his money 
in doing wickedly. 

After his money was all 
gone, there came a great 
famine in that land. It is 
a famine in any place when 
the grain and the fruit 
do not grow there, so that 
the people have not food 
enough to eat. 

And now there was a famine in the land 
where the younger son had gone, and he had 
not enough money to buy even a piece of 
bread. His wicked friends had left him when 
he came to be 230or, and there was no one who 
was willing to give him any help. 

So he went and hired himself to work for a 
man who lived in that country, and the man 




228 THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 




sent him out into the field to feed his swine. 
And the younger son was so hungry that he 
would have been glad to get as much. as he 
wanted, even of the coarse food that the swine 
ate, but the man did not give it to him. 

After he had suffered for many days, he 
said to himself, In my father's house at home, 
how many hired servants there are who have 
plenty to eat, and more than they want, while 
I stay here starving with hunger. 

I will leave this country and go back to my 
father, and will say to him. Father, I have 
sinned against God and done wickedly to thee, 
and I do not deserve any more to be thy son. 
If I may only come back to thy house, I am 
willing to be treated as if I were one of thy 
hired servants. 

So he left that country to go back to his 
father. But as he came toward the house, 
while he was yet a good way oflP, his father saw 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



229 



him coming. And as soon as he saw him, he 
did not wait for him to come any nearer; but 




THE SON COMES BACK. TO HIS FATHER'S HOUSE. 

he ran out to meet him, and put his arms 
around his neck, and kissed him. 



230 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



Then the son said to him, Father, I have 
sinned against God and done wickedly to thee, 
and I do not deserve to be thy son. 

But his father was so glad that he would not 
let him say any more. He called his servants 
to bring out new clothes to put on him, instead 
of the soiled and torn ones that he wore ; and to 
put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 

And go get the fatted calf, the father said, 
and kill it, and let us have a feast and be 
happy; because this my son who had gone 
away and left me, has come back again — he 
was lost and now he is found. So they sat 
down to the feast and were happy together. 

Now the older son was out in the field at 
work. When it was time for him to come 
home, as he came near the house, he heard 
music and dancing there. And he called one 
of the servants to him, and asked what these 
things meant. 

The servant answered, Thy brother has 
come, and thy father has had the fatted calf 
killed, and made a feast for him, because he is 
so glad that he has come back safe and sound. 

Then the elder brother, instead of being 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 231 



pleased, was jealous and angry, and he would 
not come into the house. So his father went 
out and begged him to come in. 

But he answered his father, and said, For a 
great many years I have done as thou hast 
told me, and have never disobeyed what thou 
hast said; yet thou didst never make a feast 
for me and my friends. But as soon as this 
thy son has come, who has wasted thy money 
in doing wickedly, thou hast killed for him 
the fatted calf. 

Then his father answered him, saying, My 
son, I have always loved thee, and every thing 
I have is the same as if it were thine. Yet, 
it is right we should be glad and rejoice. For 
thy brother had gone away and left us, and 
he has come back again; he was lost, and now 
he is found. 

In this parable the father means God, and 
the son who went away and left him, means 
wicked men. 

Jesus meant, in this parable, to teach the 
proud Scribes and Pharisees, who blamed him 
for preaching to wicked men, that God still 
loves those men and that he is willing to take 



232 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



them for his children again, if they will only 
leave off their sins and love and obey him. 

Jesus spoke 
another parable. 
It was about two 
men. One of 
them was rich, 
and was dressed 
in the most beau- 
tiful clothes, and 
ate the nicest of 
food every day. 
The other was a 
poor man named 
Lazarus; he was 
a beggar, and 
was sick, and his 
body was covered 
with sores. 

And because he was poor and had nothing 
to eat, his friends brought him and laid him 
down outside of the rich man's door, so that 
he might get the pieces of food that were 
left from the rich man's table. And even the 
dogs in the street seemed to pity him, for they 
came and licked his sores. 




LAZAEUS AT THE RICH MAN'S DOOR. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



233 



After a while the beggar died, and the angels 
came and carried him up to heaven. But he 
was not poor there, nor had he to wait for the 
pieces of food that were left from the table. He 
sat down at the 
feast himself 
with the good 
men who had 
gone to heaven 
before him. He 
sat next to the 
great and good 
Abraham, and 
leaned on Abra- 
ham's bosom. 

Afterward 
the rich man 
died also, and 
was buried; 
but his soul 
went to the 




LAZARUS CAERIED TO HEAVEN. 



place where 
the wicked go. And while he was there, being 
punished for his sins, he looked up and saw 
Abraham a great way off and Lazarus leaning 
on his bosom. 



234 THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 



And he cried out, and said, Father Abraham, 
have pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip his 
finger in water, and then let him come and put 
a drop of it on my tongue, to cool it, for I am 
burning in this flame. 

But Abraham told the rich man to remember, 
that when he was alive he had good things, but 
Lazarus had evil things. And now, Abraham 
said, Lazarus is comforted and happy, but thou 
art in pain. 

And beside this, between us and you there 
is a wide, deep place, that no one can pass over ; 
so that persons who want to go from us to you 
cannot go, and those who want to come from 
you to us, cannot come. 

Then the rich man said. If Lazarus cannot 
come to me, I pray thee send him to my 
father's house, for I have five brothers living 
there, that he may tell them to repent of their 
sins and obey God, so that when they die, they 
may not come to this dreadful place. 

Abraham answered the rich man, and said, 
Thy brothers have the Bible to read, let 
them learn to repent from it. The rich man 
answered. But, Father Abraham, if some one 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 235 



should rise up from the dead and go and tell 
them, they surely would repent. 

Abraham answered, If thy brothers will not 
obey what God says to them in the Bible, they 
would not obey him and repent of their sins, 
even if some one should rise up from the dead 
and go and speak to them. 

From this parable we learn that the good 
are happy after they die, but the wicked are 
punished for their sins. We learn, too, that 
it is far better to obey God and have him for 
our Father, even though we be poor and sick, 
than it is to have all the riches in the world 
and not be one of his children. 




THE PHARISEE. 



CHAPTEE XVII. 



JESUS spoke a parable to those persons who 
thought themselves better than others. 
The parable was about two men who went up to 
the temple to pray. One of them was a Pharisee, 
and the other was a publican, or tax-gatherer. 

236 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



237 



The Pharisee chose a place to say his prayers 
where other people could see him, and hear 
him saying them. 




THE PUBLICAN 



And this is what he said when he prayed, 
Lord, I thank thee that I am not wicked like 



238 THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 

other men, or even as bad as this publican 
whom I see standing over there. 

I always say my prayers, I fast twice every 
week, and I give a part of every thing that I 
get to the priests who stay at the temple. 

This is what the Pharisee said when he was 
praying, and he was careful to say it out loud 
so that other persons might hear him, because 
he wanted them to think he was very good. 

But the publican when he prayed did not 
want other persons to hear him. He wanted 
God only to hear him. So he went to a place 
by himself, and bowed down his head, and 
because he was sorry for all the wicked things 
he had done, he said, God forgive me, for I 
feel that I am a sinner. 

Then Jesus told the people who were lis- 
tening to this parable, that God was more 
pleased with the publican than he was with 
the Pharisee; because the Pharisee was proud 
and thought much of himself, but the publican 
repented of his sins and confessed them, and 
asked to be forgiven. 

Some of the people brought little children to 
Jesus, for him to put his hands on their heads, 



240 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



and pray for them and bless them. But his 
disciples thought this would be troublesome to 
Jesus, and they found fault with the persons 
who brought them and wanted to send them 
away again. 

But Jesus was displeased with his disciples 
for this. He told them to let the little children 
come to him, and not to forbid them, for he 
said it was only those persons who were humble 
and loving, like little children, that should 
come into the kingdom of heaven. 

And he took the children up in his arms 
and put his hands on them and blessed them. 
By this we are taught that Jesus loves little 
children. And if they will love him, and 
obey what he says to them, they too, may be 
his disciples. 

As Jesus and his twelve apostles were going 
up to Jerusalem he took them to a place alone, 
and told them what would happen to him 
when he came there. He said that the people 
at Jerusalem would mock him, and beat him, 
and spit upon him; and afterward they would 
crucify him, that is, they would kill him by 
nailing him to the cross. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 241 



The cross was made of two large pieces of 
wood fastened together, one across the other. 
In that country men who were to be punished 
by being put to death, were nailed to this cross, 
by great nails driven through their hands and 
their feet. And after being nailed to it, they 
were left hanging there until they died. This 
is what Jesus said would be done to him. 

We have read before, that he came down to 
this world because he wanted to save us from 
being punished for the sins that we have done. 
We have read, too, that the only way he could 
do this, was to be punished in our place. 

And now Jesus was going to be punished in 
our place, by being nailed to the cross. And 
he knew that when he came to Jerusalem this 
would be done to him. Yet he did not turn 
back, but went on, because he loved us, and 
was willing to die for our sakes. 

On the way to Jerusalem he passed through 
the city of Jericho. And a great multitude 
of people followed him. As they were passing 
along, a poor blind man, named Bartimeus, 
sat by the wayside begging. 

When he heard the noise of the people, he 



16 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 243 



asked what it meant, and they told him that 
Jesus was passing by. 

Now Bartimeus had heard how Jesus could 
make blind persons see. So as soon as he 
knew that Jesus was there, he began to cry 
out with a loud voice, saying, Jesus, have 
mercy on me. 

When the people heard him they told him 
to be still. But he only cried a great deal 
the more, Jesus, have mercy on me. 

Jesus stood still and said that he should be 
brought to him. When the blind man heard 
this, he rose up in haste to go to Jesus; and he 
threw away his outer garment, or coat, so that 
he might get to him the sooner. Jesus asked 
him w^hat it was that he wanted. He said, 
Lord, that thou wouldst make me able to see. 

Then Jesus told Bartimeus that because he 
had faith, and believed that Jesus was able and 
willing to make him well, he should be made 
well. And at once he was able to see. And 
he followed Jesus, and spoke out loud, thank- 
ing God for what had been done to him. 

I have told you that at the time we are now 
reading about, the Jews were servants to a 



244 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



people called the Romans, and that they had 
to give a part of their money to the emperor, 
or king, of the Romans. 




ZACCHEUS IN THE SYCAMORE TREE. 



This emperor did not live in the land of 
Israel, or come there himself to get the money 
that the Jews paid him ; but there were some 
men in that land who took the money for him. 
These men, as we have read, were called 
publicans, or tax gatherers. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 245 



There was living in the city of Jericho a 
man named Zaccheus, who was the chief one 
among the publicans, and he was rich. 

As Jesus passed through the city, Zaccheus 
tried to see who it was but he could not for the 
crowd, because he was not so tall as the rest of 
the people. Therefore he ran on before and 
climbed up into a sycamore tree, because 
Jesus was to pass by that way. 

When Jesus came to the place, he looked up 
and saw Zaccheus, and he said to him, 
Zaccheus, make haste and come down, for I 
must go to thy house with thee and stay there 
to-day. Then Zaccheus made haste and came 
down. And he went with Jesus and took him 
to his house joyfully. 

Now the publicans who took the people's 
money for the king, were often unjust and 
cruel men. They were unjust to poor persons, 
taking more from them than it was right to 
take. And it is very likely that Zaccheus did 
this before Jesus came to his house. But 
when he saw Jesus he believed that God had 
sent him, and he listened to his words, and 
obeyed what he said. And Zaccheus stood up 



246 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



before all the people who were there, and told 
Jesus that he would be unjust no more. He 
would be kind to the poor, he said, and would 
give them half of all the money he had. And 
if he found he had taken any thing that did 
not belong to him, he would give back four 
times as much to the person he took it from. 

When Jesus saw how Zaccheus repented of 
his sins and obeyed him, Jesus told Zaccheus 
that all his sins were forgiven. 

And if we want to be forgiven we must 
obey Jesus and repent of our sins, as Zaccheus 
did. We too must be kind to persons who are 
poorer than we are. If we have no money to 
give them, we must help them in any way 
that we can. 

And if we have ever taken any thing that 
did not belong to us, we must give back, or 
pay for, the thing we have taken, even though 
the person we took it from has never missed it 
and knows nothing of it. God knows it and 
we cannot expect him to forgive us while we 
are disobeying him, by keeping for our own 
what belongs to another. 

Now the time was near for having the feast 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 247 



of the Passover. For as you rememberj God 
had told the Jews they must have this feast 
every year. And they were not allowed to eat 
of it in any other city, but must come to Jeru- 
salem to eat of it. And many of the Jews 
had come there at this time. 

Jesus and his disciples were also coming 
there. But the Jews did not know this, and 
while they were at the temple they spoke to 
one another about him, saying. Do you think 
he will come to the feast? For the Pharisees 
had told all the people that if any person knew 
where Jesus was, he must tell them, because 
they wanted to find him so that they might 
take him and put him to death. 

As Jesus and his disciples were coming 
toward Jerusalem, they stopped at the village 
of Bethany. Bethany was the place where 
Martha and Mary lived, with their brother 
Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 
The Jews knew that Lazarus was there, and 
because they had heard how he was raised 
from the dead, they came to Bethany, not to 
see Jesus only but Lazarus too. 

Then some of the chief men, or rulers of 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 249 



the Jews, wanted to put Lazarus also to death ; 
because many of the Jews after they had seen 
him, believed on Jesus that he was the Son 
of God. 

Jesus left the village of Bethany to go to 
Jerusalem, which was not far ofiP. When he 
came to the mountain called the Mount of 
Olives, he sent two of his disciples to a village 
that was near. 

He told them that as soon as they came into 
the village they would find tied there an ass, 
and a colt with her. And he said to the dis- 
ciples, Untie them, and bring them to me. If 
any man ask why you do this, you shall say, 
The Lord has need of them. 

The disciples did as Jesus told them, and 
found the ass and the colt. As they untied 
them the persons who owned them asked why 
they did this, and the disciples answered as 
Jesus had said. Then the owners let the dis- 
ciples take them. And they brought the ass 
and the colt to Jesus. 

Then the disciples took off their outer gar- 
ments, or coats, and put them on the back of 
the colt, and Jesus sat on him. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 251 



As he rode toward Jerusalem a great mul- 
titude of people followed him, and they took 
oif their outer garments, and spread them on 
the ground for him to ride over them. Others 
cut down branches from the trees, and strewed 
them in the way before him. 

They did this to honor Jesus, for so they 
used to do when a king rode through their 
streets. And the multitude that went before 
and that followed after him, cried out with 
loud voices, saying, Blessed is he that has 
come to us, sent by the Lord I 

But although the Jews did these things to 
praise and honor Jesus, and seemed so glad to 
have him come into their city, he knew that 
they did not love him in their hearts, and that 
in a few days these same people would be cry- 
ing out that he should be nailed to the cross 
and crucified. 





CHAPTER XVIII. 

JESUS came into Jerusalem and went up to 
the temple, and the people brought to him 
persons who were lame and blind, and he made 
them well. In the evening he went to the 
village of Bethany where he had stayed the 
night before; and he slept at Bethany. 

The next morning as he came back to Jeru- 
salem he was hungry, and seeing a fig-tree on 
the way, he went to it that he might eat some 
of the figs ; but he found no fruit on the tree, 
only leaves were growing there. 

When he saw there were no figs on it he 
spoke to the tree, and said. Let no more fruit 
grow on thee forever. And the disciples who 
were with him heard what he said. 

The next day as they passed by the tree 
again, they looked at it and saw that it was 
withered and dead, all the way up from its 
roots to its top. Then they remembered the 

252 



254 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



words which Jesus had spoken, and they said, 
How soon has the fig-tree withered away. 

It was the words that Jesus sjDoke to the 
tree that made it wither and die ; to make it 
die by speaking to it was a miracle. 




EASTERN WINE-PRESS. 



Jesus spoke a parable to the people about a 
man who planted a vineyard. A vineyard is 
a field, or large garden, where grape-vines grow. 
This man in the parable planted a vineyard 
and set up a fence, or wall, around it, and 
made a wine-press in it. 

The wine-press is the place into which the 
grapes are put when they are ripe, to have the 
juice pressed out of them to make wine. For 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 255 



wine, you know, is made out of the juice of 
grapes. 

After the man had made the fence and the 
wine-press, he built a strong house, or tower, 
in his vineyard. This was for the men who 
should stay there to guard it from robbers and 
wild beasts. Whenever there was danger 
they could go into the tower and shut to 
the door, and be safe. 

Now the owner of the vineyard did not 
want to attend to his vineyard himself. And 
when it was done he let some husbandmen, 
that is, men who work in the field, go into it. 

These husbandmen were to stay in the vine- 
yard and take care of it, and attend to the 
vines. And when the grapes should get ripe 
they were to pick them and give some of them 
to the owner of the vineyard, for letting them 
have the use of his vineyard ; the rest of the 
grapes they were to keep for themselves. 

So after the husbandmen had gone into the 
vineyard to take care of it, the owner went 
away to a far country. 

And when the time came for the grapes to 
be ripe, he sent his servant to get his share. 



256 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



But the husbandmen, instead of giving him 
his share as they had promised to do, caught 




THE HUSBANDMEN SEE THEIB MASTER'S SON COMING. 

the servant and beat him, and sent him back 
to his master without any. 



THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 257 



Then the owner sent another servant, but 
the husbandmen threw stones at him, and 
wounded him in the head and sent him away 
cruelly treated. And the owner sent still more 
of his servants, and some of these they beat 
and some they put to death. 

Then the owner of the vineyard said, What 
shall I do? Now he had one son whom he 
loved very much. And he said to himself, 
This is what I will do. I will send my beloved 
son, for they will be afraid to hurt him. 

But when the husbandmen saw the son 
coming, they said to each other. This is the 
son who, when his father dies, will have the 
vineyard. Come, let us kill him, and take it 
for our own. So, when he came, they put him 
out of the vineyard, and killed him. 

Then Jesus said to the people who were 
listening to him, What will the owner of the 
vineyard do to those wicked husbandmen when 
he comes back from the far country, and goes 
into his vineyard? The people said, He will 
put those wicked men to death, and send other 
men into his vineyard who will give him his 
share of the fruit. 



17 



258 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



In this parable the owner of the vineyard 
meant God, and the wicked husbandmen meant 




THEY KILL THE SON AND CAST HIM OUT OF THE VINEYARD. 

the Jews. For God had been very kind to the 
Jews. They were slaves, as we have read, in 
the land of Egypt, and God brought them up 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 259 



into the land of Israel and he gave them that 
land for their own. But when they came there 
they would not obey him. 

Then God sent good men and prophetSy to 
tell them to repent of their sins. But they 
would not listen to the prophets. Instead of 
this they treated them cruelly and killed them. 
And now God had sent his own Son, Jesus, 
and they were going to kill him, like the 
wicked husbandmen in the parable. 

The Pharisees and chief men among the 
Jews were displeased when they heard this 
parable, for they knew that the wicked hus- 
bandmen meant them. And they wanted to 
take Jesus and punish him ; but they were 
afraid the people would be angry if they did 
so, for many of them believed that God had 
sent Jesus to teach them. 

Jesus spoke another parable; it was about 
a wedding feast which a king made for his son. 
Now we should think that any one would be 
glad to go to a king's feast. But when this 
king sent out his servants to tell the persons 
who were invited that every thing was ready, 
they would not come. 



260 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



Then he sent his servants to them again, 
saying, I have had oxen and sheep killed for 




THEY WILL NOT COME TO THE KING'S FEAST. 

my dinner and it is all ready and waiting, 
therefore come and eat of it. 

But some of the men whom the servants 
spoke to, turned away and would not listen to 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 261 



them, and others took hold of them and treated 
them cruelly, and killed them. 

When the king heard of this, he sent out his 
soldiers to punish those wicked men. And 
the soldiers came to the place where they lived, 
and put the men to death and burned up their 
houses with fire. 

Then the king called other servants, and 
said to them, The wedding feast is ready, but 
the men who were first asked to it did wickedly, 
and now they cannot come. Therefore do you 
go out into the streets of the city, and bring 
in all the people you meet. So the servants 
went out and brought in every person they 
met, both rich and poor. 

Now the clothes these persons wore, whether 
they were rich or poor (for this made no 
difference) , were not good enough to come into 
the king's house with. 

Therefore the king had new and beautiful 
garments made ready for all who should come, 
and one of these garments was offered to each 
person as he came into the house, and he was 
told to put it on. 

But when the king went into the room 



262 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



where the feast was held, he saw among the 
people there, a man who had not on a wedding 




THE MAN WHO HAD NOT ON THE WEDBINQ GARMENT 

garment. And he said to him. Friend, how 
didst thou come in here without a wedding 
garment ? 

And the man could not answer, for he knew 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 263 



that when the garment was offered him he 
would not take it, because he was proud and 
thought his own clothes good enough. 

Then the king was angry, and he told his 
servants to take the man and tie his hands 
and his feet, so that he could not get away, 
and to shut him up in the dark prison that 
was made ready for those persons who would 
not obey him. 

In this parable the king who gave the feast 
means God, and the king's Son whom it was 
given for, means Jesus. 

The people who were first asked to it and 
would not come, mean the Jews, because they 
were the ones who were first asked to believe 
in Jesus, but they would not. 

The persons who were brought in from the 
streets afterward, mean those who have believed 
in him and obeyed him since that time. 

The man who had not on a wedding garment, 
means any one who goes with the disciples of 
Jesus and pretends to be one himself, but is 
not one in his heart. For God looks at our 
hearts, and he will reward us, or punish us, 
according to what he sees there. 



264 THE STORY OF THE GOSPELo 



One of the Pharisees came to Jesus and 
asked him which was the principal command- 
ment in the Biblco 

It is a commandment when God tells us 
any thing we must do. He tells us we must 
keep the Sabbath day holy. We must be kind 
to each other. We must not steal. We must 
not lie. All these are commandments. 

And God has told us many more command- 
ments in the Bible. But this Pharisee who 
came now to Jesus, wanted to know which was 
the chief, or principal, commandment of all. 

Jesus said to him. This is the first and prin- 
cipal commandment, Thou shall love the Lord 
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy 
soul, and with all thy mind. 

And Jesus meant that this was the principal 
commandment not only for the Pharisee, but 
for us all to obey. It means that we must love 
God as much as we can love, and more than 
we love any one else. 

You may ask, How can I love God so much 
when I cannot see him? It is true you cannot 
see him, but you do not always have to see the 
persons whom you love and feel thankful to. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 265 



Suppose you were all alone, far away from 
your home, and had to travel a long way to 
get back to it. 

Your clothes were soiled and torn, your 
shoes were worn out, and you were very hun- 
gry yet you had no money to buy food with. 
And you lay down in a shady place by the 
road to rest, and fell asleep. 

And suppose, when you woke, you found 
at your side new clothes, and new shoes, and 
nice food to eat, that some one had left for 
you. Though you did not know who left 
them, you would thank him for being so kind. 

Or suj)pose on some dark and stormy night, 
you got lost, and because you did not know 
the way you fell into a deep river. And just 
as you were sinking under the water, a strong 
man jumped in and swam to you and held you 
up, and brought you safe to the shore. 

You could not see him, it would be too dark ; 
and he might go away in the dark, so that you 
would never see him. Yet you would love 
him for saving your life. 

Now God gives you your clothes, and your 
food, and every good thing you have. And he 



266 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



has sent his Son to save you, not from drowning, 
which would give you pain for only a few 
moments, but to save you from bearing pun- 
ishment that would last forever. Ought you 
not to love him for these things, even though 
you cannot see him? 

We shall never see God while we are living 
in this world, yet we must love him or we 
cannot be his children, 

After Jesus had told the Pharisee about the 
first and principal commandment, which says 
we must love God, he said there was another 
commandment which comes next to this one. 
These are the words of it, Thou shalt love 
thy neighbor as thyself. 

All the people in the world that we can do 
any good to, are our neighbors. And God 
says we must love them as we love ourselves. 

This means that we must be as careful to do 
what is kind and just to them, as we are to do 
it to ourselves. 




CHAPTER XIX. 



JESUS spoke to the scribes and Pharisees 
and called them hypocrites. We have 
read before that a hypocrite is a person who 
tries to make others believe he is good, while 
in his heart he is wicked. 

These scribes and Pharisees used to go into 
the synagogues on the Sabbath days, and sit 
in the highest seats where every one could see 
them, and they said their prayers out in the 
streets so that every one could hear them. 

But on other days than the Sabbath they 
were wicked and unjust, and took for their 
own what did not belong to them. This is the 
reason why Jesus called them hypocrites. 

It does us no good to go to church and pray, 
if we come away from church to do wickedly. 
God sees us not only in church, but all the 

267 



268 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



time. And Jesus told the scribes and Phari- 
sees that because they pretended to obey God, 




PBATING IN THE STEKKTS. 



while they were disobeying him in their 
hearts, God would punish them the more at 
the Judgment Day. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 269 



In the court, or yard, of the temple in 
Jerusalem, stood some chests, or boxes, which 
had openings in the top. These boxes were 
put there for the people to drop money in. 

This money the priests took to buy such 
things as were needed at the temple. Therefore 
it was the same as if the money were given to 
God, because the things it bought were used 
in worshipping him. 

One day Jesus was sitting near to the place 
where these boxes stood, and he saw the people 
coming and dropping their money into them. 
Each person dropped in just as much as he 
chose. And many persons who were rich 
dropped in a great deal. But after a while 
a poor woman who was a widow, and who had 
no one to work and earn money for her, came 
and dropped in a very small piece of money 
that was worth less than a penny. 

Then Jesus called his disciples to him and 
told them, that this small piece of money 
which the poor widow dropped into the chest, 
seemed more to God, and God thought more 
of it, than he did of all that the rich men 
had given. 



270 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL, 



For the rich men, he said, even after they 
had given so much, had a great deal still left 




THE WIDOW DBOPS IN A SMALL PIECE OF MONEY. 

for themselves. But this poor widow had 
nothing left for herself, because she gave all 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 271 



that she had, and did not save enough even to 
buy herself bread with. 

From this we learn that God thinks more of 
a little that we give to him when it is hard for 
us to part with it, than he does of a great deal 
when we keep so much that we do not miss it. 

For the harder it is to give any thing, or to 
do any thing for him, the more it shows that 
we love him. And that is what God wants us 
to do most of all, to love him. 

Now although Jesus had so often preached 
to the Jews, and had done so many miracles 
for them to see, on purpose that they might 
believe and know he was the Son of God, 
yet they would not believe this because their 
hearts were wicked. 

Our heart, as I have told you, is that part 
of us which makes us want to do right or 
wrong, and it is that part of us which loves 
and hates persons. 

If we have new and good hearts, we will 
love Jesus, and obey him as our Saviour. 
But the Jews had wicked hearts, and because 
Jesus told them of their sins they hated him, 
and would not believe that he was the Saviour. 



272 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



We have been told about the day that is 
coming, called the Judgment Day. When that 
day comes all those persons whose sins are 
forgiven will be full of joy. But those who 
are not forgiven will be in great trouble. 

Jesus told his disciples to be always ready 
for the Judgment Day, because they could not 
tell how soon it might come. 

Then he spoke a parable to them about ten 
virgins, or young women, that went out to 
meet a bridegroom, or man who had just been 
married. This bridegroom was bringing his 
wife to his home. 

For in that country, when a man was 
married, he and his friends with him, brought 
his wife home to his house in the night. And 
as he came near to his house, some more of 
his friends, each one of them carrying a lighted 
lamp, or torch, used to go out to meet him. 

These ten virgins in the parable were going 
out to meet the bridegroom. 

They had lighted their lamps and were all 
ready, but because the bridegroom stayed longer 
than they expected, they sat down to wait till 
he should come. And they all fell asleep. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 273 



Now five of the virgins were wise and 
brought some more oil with them, beside the 
oil that was in their lamps. They did this so 
that if their lamps should go out, they would 
have enough oil to fill them again. But the 
other five virgins were foolish, and brought no 
oil except what was in their lamps. 

So as we have just read, they all fell asleep 
while they were waiting for the bridegroom. 
And in the middle of the night the people 
who were watching saw him coming, and they 
cried out. The bridegroom is coming, go you 
out to meet him. 

Then all the virgins rose up in haste, and 
took up their lamps, but they found that while 
they were asleep the lamps had burned up the 
oil that was in them and gone out. 

Then the foolish virgins, who had no more 
oil, came to the wise virgins, and said, Give us 
some of your oil for our lamps have gone out. 

But the wise virgins answered them, saying, 
We have not enough for ourselves and you 
too ; therefore go you to the persons who have 
oil to sell, and buy more for yourselves. 

So the foolish virgins went to buy some more 

18 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL, 275 



oil. And while they were gone the bridegroom 
came. Then the wise virgins, who were ready 
and had their lamps burning, went with him 
into his house, and sat down with the company 
to the marriage feast. 

After awhile the foolish virgins came. But 
now it was too late, the door had been shut, 
and though they stood calling outside, they 
were not allowed to go in. 

In this parable the bridegroom coming in 
the night, means Jesus coming down from 
heaven at the Judgment Day. The wise 
virgins mean those persons who have loved 
and obeyed him, and who will be ready to 
meet him when he comes. Jesus will take 
them with him up into heaven. 

The foolish virgins mean those persons who 
have not loved and obeyed Jesus, and who 
will not be ready to meet him at the Judgment 
Day. They too will want to be taken up into 
heaven, and they will see those who are ready 
to meet him taken there, but they themselves 
will be shut out. 

Jesus spoke another parable, about a man 
who went on a journey to a far country. But 



276 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



before he went he called his servants and gave 
them his money. He did not give it to them 
to keep for their own, but only to use it and 
earn more money with it, while he was gone. 

Now in that country the money was counted 
in what were called talents. So to one servant 
the man gave five talents, to another two, and 
to another one. 

He gave to each servant as much as he 
thought that servant would know how to use. 
When he had done this he left them and 
went away on his journey. 

Then the servant who had five talents, took 
them and traded with them, that is, he bought 
things with them, and afterward sold those 
things for more than they cost him. He 
kept on doing this, until he earned for his 
master five talents more than his master had 
given him. 

And the servant who had two talents did 
the same, until he earned two talents more. 
So they both had just twice as much as their 
master had given them. 

But the servant with one talent did not love 
his master, and was not willing to work for 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



277 



him. Therefore he went and dug a place in 
the ground and hid his money, to keep it until 
his master should come. 




THK SERVANT WHO EARNED FIVE TALENTS. 

After a long time the master came back. 
Then he called his servants to tell him what 
they had done. So he who had the five talents 



278 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



came and said, Master, thou gavest me five 
talents. Look, I have earned five talents more. 

His master said, Well done, thou good and 
faithful servant, thou hast been industrious 
and careful with the money that I gave to 
thee, I will give thee still more. And thou 
shalt come and live in my house and be 
happy with me there. 

And he who had the two talents came, and 
said. Master, thou gavest me two talents, I have 
earned two other talents beside them. 

The master said to him, too. Well done, 
thou good and faithful servant, thou hast been 
industrious and careful with the money that I 
gave to thee, I will now give thee more. Thou 
also shalt come and live in my house, and be 
happy with me there. 

Then the servant who had the one talent 
came; but he spoke wickedly to his master, 
and said that he knew his master would want 
more than belonged to him. 

And because he was afraid he might lose 
his money and be punished for it, he had 
hidden it in the ground, so that no one could 
find it and take it away from him. And now 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 279 



lie had brought it with him, he said, and he 
told his master to take it back again. 




THE SEEVANT WHO HAD ONE TALENT. 



Then his master said to him, Thou idle and 
disobedient servant, thou art only making an 
excuse for thine own wickedness. 



280 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



And he said to the other servants, Take the 
one talent from him and give it to him who 
earned five talents. For to every one who has 
earned something I will give more; but from 
him who has earned nothing I will take away 
even the little that he has. 

In this parable the master means Jesus, who 
has gone away to heaven to stay for a time, we 
do not know how long, but is coming back at 
the Judgment Day. 

The servants mean all of us whom he has 
left to work for him, in this world. He does 
not give all of us money to work with, but he 
makes us all able to work in some way. 

Some of us can work best with our hands. 
Some of us can teach better than we can do 
any thing else. Some can write books. Some 
can paint beautiful pictures. 

Whatever we are able to do well, or what- 
ever thing we have that we can do good with, 
is a talent that Jesus has given us. 

And this parable teaches that if we use our 
talents, like the two good servants, in working 
for our Master, Jesus, he will reward us at 
the Judgment Day. But if, like the wicked 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 281 



servant, we are idle and will not work for him, 
then he will punish us- at that day. 

And Jesus told his disciples what would 
happen on the Judgment Day. On that day- 
he said, he will come down to this world again, 
and all the holy angels will be with him. 

And he will sit on his throne, where every 
one can see him, and all the people who are 
dead will rise up and stand before him, for 
him to judge them, that is, for him to say 
whether they shall be rewarded or punished. 

The people that have been drowned in the 
sea, and those that have been buried in the 
ground, will all rise up and be there. 

And he will separate them into two great 
companies. One company will stand on his 
right hand ; they will be the good. The other 
company will stand on his left hand; they 
will be the wicked. 

Then Jesus will speak kindly to those on 
his right hand and call them God's children. 
And he will tell them that because they loved 
and obeyed him while they were alive on the 
earth, they shall come with him now to that 
happy place, that God made ready for them 



282 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



when he first made the world. Afterward he 
will speak to the wicked on his left hand; 
but he will tell them, because they did not 
love and obey him, they must go from him 
into that dreadful place where they are to be 
punished for their disobedience. 

Then the wicked will go into that place, to 
be punished always. But the good he will 
take up to heaven where they will be happy 
forever. 





CHAPTEE XX. 

AFTER Jesus had spoken these things, he 
-^ told his disciples that in two days would 
be the feast of the Passover, and then he 
would be betrayed to be crucified. 

We betray a person when we turn against 
hira, and tell his enemies where they can find 
him, so that they can go and take him to do 
him some harm. This is what Jesus meant 
would be done to him. He meant that while 
he was at Jerusalem, keeping the feast of the 
Passover, one of his disciples would turn 
against him, and give him to the men who 
hated him, so that they could nail him to the 
cross, and crucify him. 

Jesus knew who would betray him. It was 
Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve apostles. 

And Jesus came to Bethany, the town where 
Mary and Martha lived. It was their brother, 

283 



284 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 
And they made a supper for Jesus at Bethany, 
Martha waited on him, but Lazarus was one of 
those who ate at the table. 




EATING AT THE TABLE. 



The Jews when they ate their meals, did 
not sit up straight on chairs as we do. They 
lay down on sofas, or couches, that were put 
around the table instead of chairs. They lay 
on these couches, leaning on their left arms and 
feeding themselves with their right hands. 

While Jesus was at the table, Mary came to 
him there. She carried a small box in her 
hand. This box was made of alabaster, or 
marble, and it was filled with stuff called oint- 
ment, that had cost a great deal of money. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 285 



Now in those days the people used to put 
ointment like this on their heads and on their 
beards, and sometimes they put it over their 
whole bodies. This was called anointing. 
They did it because the ointment made their 
skin soft and smooth, and because it had a 
sweet and pleasant smell. They thought, 
too, that it kept them from being sick. 

Sometimes when a person went to visit a 
friend, while he sat in his house, his friend 
would come to him and anoint him by putting 
sweet ointment on him. And this was thought 
to be very kind. 

So as we have read, while Jesus was at the 
table, Mary came with, a box of precious oint= 
ment, and she broke the box and poured the 
ointment on his feet, and then wiped them 
with her hair. And the house was filled with 
the sweet smell of the ointment. 

Mary did this to show how much she loved 
Jesus for coming down from heaven to teach her 
about God, and make her one of his children. 

But Judas, the wicked apostle, who was 
going to betray him, found fault with her, 
and said, Why was not this ointment sold for 



286 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



three hundred pence, and the money given 
away to people who are poor? 




MARY ANOINTS JESUS. 



He said this not because he really cared for 
the poor, but because he was the one who 
carried the bag that the money was kept in, 
and he was a thief, and wanted the three 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 287 



hundred pence put into the bag, so that he 
could take them for his own. 

But Jesus told Judas not to find fault with 
Mary ; for what she had done to him was right 
to do. And he said that wherever his disci- 
ples went over the whole world, to preach the 
Gospel to the people, they would tell them of 
Mary's kind act that it might always be 
remembered of her. 

I have told you about the priests, or minis- 
ters, who stayed at the temple in Jerusalem 
attending to God's worship there. 

Now some of these priests were called chief 
priests, because they were the chief, or princi- 
pal ones. And yet, although they were the 
chief ones among the priests, they were not 
good men. And when they heard Jesus teach- 
ing the people to do right and obey God, they 
hated him. 

And now Judas went to these chief priests 
and asked them how much money they would 
give him if he would, some time, betray Jesus 
to them, and bring them to the place where 
Jesus was, so that they could take him and 
put him to death. 



288 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



The chief priests said they would give Judas 
thirty pieces of silver. This was not much, 
but Judas had come to love money better than 




THEY OFFEE JUDAS THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER. 

any thing else, and now he made up his mind 
that for these thirty pieces of silver he would 
betray his Master. 

From this time Judas watched Jesus to find 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 289 



liim alone, so that he could bring the chief 
priests to the place and betray him to them. 

And now the day had come when the Jews 
made ready for the feast of the Passover. 
Every man killed a lamb to eat at this feast, 
and it was roasted with fire, and the man and 
his family ate of it in the night; for as we 
have read, the feast of the Passover was eaten 
in the night. 

Jesus was going to eat this feast with his 
apostles, and they came to him and asked him 
where they should make it ready. He told 
them to go into the city of Jerusalem, and 
they would meet a man carrying a pitcher of 
water. Him they were to follow into the 
house where he was going. 

There, Jesus said, they would see the man 
who was the owner of the house: and they 
were to say to him, The Master wants thee to 
show us the room, where he shall come to eat 
the feast of the Passover with his apostles. 

Then, Jesus said, the man would show them 
a large room, up stairs, with a table in it and 
seats around the table ; and in that room they 
were to make the feast ready. 



290 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



So the apostles did as Jesus commanded. 
They went into Jerusalem and met the man 
carrying a pitcher of water, and followed him 




THE APOSTLES FULl.uW THE MAN I.NTO THE HUUriE. 

into the house. And the owner of the house 
showed them a large room up stairs, as Jesus 
had said he would, and the apostles made the 
feast ready there. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 291 



In the evening Jesus came with the twelve 
apostles to eat of the feast. Then he told 
them that this was the last time he would eat 
of it with them. He said this because he 
knew he was soon going to die. 

But the apostles did not think he was going 
to die. They thought, because he was the Son 
of God, that he was soon going to be very 
great, and to sit on a throne and have a 
kingdom. And then they thought that they 
would be great too. 

And they began to dispute with one another, 
as they had done before, about which of them 
should be greatest. But Jesus told them that 
the one who would be greatest in his king- 
dom, would not be the one who wanted to 
rule over the others, but the one who was most 
humble and willing to wait on the rest. 

Then he rose up from the table and laid 
aside his outer garment, and took a towel 
and fastened it around him. After that he 
poured some water into a basin, and went from 
one apostle to another, washing their feet, and 
wiping them with the towel he had taken. 

Now, in that country it was the work of 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 293 



the lowest servant, or slave, to bring water and 
wash the feet of his master, or his master's 
friends. But Jesus did it to the apostles to 
show them how he, their Lord and Master, was 
willing to take a servant's place for them. 

So after he had washed their feet and put 
on the garment which he had laid aside, he 
came to the table again. Then he said to 
them, I have given you an example that you 
should do to one another as I have done 
to you. 

And as they were eating together, he said to 
them. Truly, I tell you, that one of you shall 
betray me. He meant that one of them was 
going to give him up to his enemies. 

But when the apostles heard Jesus say this, 
they were surprised and very sorry ; and they 
looked at each other and wondered whom he 
could mean. And they began, each of them, 
to say to him. Lord, Is it T? Is it I? 

Now one of the apostles whom Jesus loved 
very much was leaning on his bosom. And 
this apostle spoke to Jesus, and asked him, 
which one of them he meant. 

Then Jesus said it was the one he would 



294 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



give a piece of bread to, after he had dipped it 
in the dish. When he had dipped the bread, 
he gave it to Judas Iscariot. 

Then Judas rose up from the table and went 
out of the house into the dark street, for it 
was night. When he was gone, Jesus said to the 
apostles, I will be with you only a little while. 

Then he told them that before he left them, 
he would give them a new commandment. It 
was this : That they should love one another. 
As he had loved them, he said, so they should 
love one another. And in this way all the 
people would know they were his disciples, if 
they had love one for another. 

And Jesus told the apostles they would all 
be tempted to go away and leave him that 
night. He said this because Judas was coming 
with a band of men to take him, and the 
apostles would be afraid when they saw these 
men. Jesus knew they were coming, for he 
knows all things, but the apostles did not 
know it. 

And when Jesus told them they would be 
tempted to leave him, they could not believe 
it. Peter answered for himself, that he would 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 295 



never leave Jesus. Though all the rest shall 
leave thee, he said, I never will ; for I am 
ready to go to prison with thee, and to be put 
to death with thee. 

But when Peter said this, Jesus told him 
that on that very night, before the cock should 
crow twice, Peter would say three times that he 
did not know him. 

You have seen sometimes as it grows dark, 
how the chickens fly up to the branch of a 
tree, or to some other place high above the 
ground, where they think they will be safe 
from harm. And there they stay and sleep 
all the night long. 

And sometimes, in the middle of the night, 
the cock stands up on the branch and crows 
out loud. And very early in the morning, 
when the light first begins to show a little in 
the sky, he crows again. He crows several 
times as he sits up there on his perch. 

And when Peter said he would never leave 
Jesus, Jesus told him that on that very night, 
before the cock should crow twice, Peter would 
not only go away and leave him, but he would 
say three times that he did not even know him. 



296 THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 



When Jesus told him this Peter was more 
surprised than ever, and he said again that 
he would never leave him; and so all the 
apostles said. 

While they were at the table, eating the 
feast of the Passover, Jesus took some bread 
in his hands, and after he had thanked God 
for it he broke it in pieces, and gave the pieces 
to the apostles. 

And he said to them. Take it and eat it, for 
this is my body, which is broken for you. 

He meant that the bread was like his body, 
and that it meant his body, because his body 
was very soon to be broken, and wounded on 
the cross, for them and for us all. 

After he had given them the bread, he took 
some wine in a cup, and when he had thanked 
God for it, he handed it to the apostles and 
told them to drink of it. He said. This wine 
is my blood which is shed (or poured out) for 
the forgiveness of sins. 

He meant that the wine was like his blood, 
and that it meant his blood, because his blood 
was very soon to be poured out from the 
wounds in his hands and his feet, while he was 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 297 



being nailed to the cross. And the reason he 
would let himself be nailed there was, because 
he wanted all the people in the world to have 
their sins forgiven. 

Then he told the apostles that after he was 
dead, they should meet together and eat of the 
bread and drink of the wine, in the same way 
that he had shown them. And whenever they 
did it, he said, they should remember him. 

This is the Communion, or Lord's Supper, 
that we have in church now. It was Jesus 
who told us to have it. 

Whenever we see the broken bread in that 
supper, it means his body, wounded and nailed 
to the cross. And whenever we see the wine, 
it means his blood poured out of the wounds 
in his hands and his feet. 

The persons who love him will keep on 
having this Supper till he comes to the earth 
again. Every time they eat of it they think 
of the sins they have done, and that he was 
punished for on the cross; and they repent of 
those sins, and determine to do them no more. 




CHAPTEK XXI. 

WHILE they ate of the feast, Jesus talked 
with the apostles. He told them not 
to be troubled because he was to be taken away 
from them. He was going to his Father, he 
said, to make a place ready for them in hia 
Father's house : he meant in heaven. 

And he promised the apostles that after he 
had made a place ready for them in heaven, 
he would come back and take them so that 
where he was they might be. Jesus meant 
that lie would come back and take them at the 
Judgment Day. 

Then he told them to obey the com- 
mandments he had given them, that is, to 
do all those good things which he had 
taught them to do, for that was the way to 
show that they loved him. And if they 
loved him, he said, his Father would love 
them. And he promised the apostles that 

298 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 299 



after he was gone away from them, his Father 
would send the Holy Spirit into their hearts, 
and that the Holy Spirit would stay with them 
always, and would make them remember every- 
thing he had told them. 

And as they would have many troubles to 
bear after he was gone, the Holy Spirit would 
be their Comforter. And when they went out 
to preach to the people, the Spirit would teach 
them the things they were to say. 

And now, Jesus said, the apostles had sorrow, 
because he was to be taken from them and put 
to death. But he would rise up from the dead, 
and they should see him again, and then their 
sorrow would be turned into joy. 

And he told them, that whenever they 
prayed to God for any thing they should ask 
God to give it them for Jesus' sake. 

We ask to have a thing given us for another 
person's sake, when he deserves to have it and 
we do not. We do not deserve to have any 
thing from God, because we have sinned against 
him; therefore when we are praying to him, 
we cannot ask him to give us any thing for 
our own sake. 



300 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



But if we are the disciples of Jesus, and ask 
God to give us any thing for his sake, God will 
always give it to us, unless it be something 
which he sees it is better for us not to have. 

After Jesus had talked with the apostles, he 
lifted up his eyes toward heaven and prayed 
for them. And not for them only, but for all 
the men and women and little children, who 
should believe on him from hearing the words 
that the apostles preached. 

You and I can never hear the apostles preach, 
because they are dead. But we can read the 
words that they preached, in the Bible, for 
those words are written down there. 

And if we learn to believe on Jesus, and to 
love him, from reading those words, then we 
are among the persons that he prayed to his 
Father for. 

He prayed that his Father would keep them 
from doing wrong, and would save them from 
harm, and take them to be his children. 

And he told his Father that he wanted 
them to come up to heaven and be with him, 
so that they might see all the greatness and 
glory which his Father had given him. 















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802 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



After he had prayed for these things, Jesus 
and his apostles sang a hymn together. Then 
they went out from the house where they had 
eaten the Passover to the mountain called 
the Mount of Olives, which was not far from 
Jerusalem. 

And they came into a garden that was 
there, called the garden of Gethsemane. And 
Jesus went a little way from the apostles to 
a place by himself, and kneeled down on the 
ground and prayed. 

And the Bible says that while he prayed he 
was in an agony. This means that he was in 
great suffering and distress. Why did Jesus 
have to bear this suffering? It was because 
he was being punished for the sins that you 
and I have done. 

For sin is a dreadful thing. God is angry 
with it and always punishes it. And we had 
sinned and were going to be punished for it, 
but Jesus, because he loved us, was willing to 
be punished in our place. 

After he had prayed to his Father, he rose 
up from the ground and went back to the 
apostles, but he found they had fallen asleep. 




JESUS PRAYS IN THE GARJJEN, 



804 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



Then he said to them, Why do you sleep? 
Rise up and pray for fear you may be tempted 
to do wrong. For Jesus knew how soon all 
his apostles would be tempted to go away and 
leave him alone. 

And he went away and prayed again; but 
afterward he came back to them, and said, Let 
us go now, for the one who will betray me to 
my enemies is coming near. 

We have read that Judas, the wicked 
apostle, had gone to the chief priests and 
asked them how much money they would give 
him if he brought them to the place where 
Jesus was; and they promised to give him 
thirty pieces of silver. 

Ever since they promised him this, Judas 
had been watching for a time when he could 
betray Jesus to them. And now Judas knew 
that he had gone into the garden. And 
because it was night, and the garden was a 
lonely place, and only the apostles were with 
Jesus, Judas thought that this was the best 
time to betray his Master. 

So he went to the chief priests and Phari- 
sees, and told them where Jesus had gone. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



305 



Then they called together a band of men and 
gave them swords and clubs to fight with, and 
sent them with Judas to take Jesus. 




JUDAS BETRAYS JiitiUS. 



And now Judas was bringing these men to 
the garden and Jesus knew they were coming. 



20 



306 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 

yet he did not make haste to go away but 
waited to let them take him, because he knew 
that the time had come for him to die. 

While he was yet speaking to the apostles 
and telling them that the one who would 
betray him was coming near, Judas came, and 
the band of men with him carrying swords 
and clubs and lanterns. 

Now Judas had told these men how they 
should know which one was Jesus. He had 
said to them, The one I shall kiss is he; take 
him and hold him fast. 

Then Judas came to Jesus and pretended he 
was glad to see him; he said. Master, Master, 
and kissed him. But Jesus said to him, Judas, 
dost thou betray me to my enemies by a kiss ? 
Then the men whom the chief priests had sent, 
when they saw Judas kiss him, took hold of 
Jesus and bound him with fetters, or ropes, to 
take him away. 

When the apostles saw them do this to 
their Master, whom they loved, they wanted 
to fight against them. They said to Jesus, Lord, 
shall we fight them with swords? And Peter, 
who had a sword, drew it out of the sheath. 



THE STOEY OF THE GOSPEL. 307 



or cover, that it was in, and struck one of the 
men and cut off his right ear. 

But Jesus told Peter to put his sword back 
again into its sheath. His Father, he said, 
would send thousands of angels to fight for 
him and save him from dying, if he would 
ask for them. 

But Jesus would not ask for them. Because, 
unless he died, and bore the punishment for 
our sins, we could not have our sins forgiven. 
Therefore he was willing to be taken and put 
to death for our sakes. And he stretched out 
his hand and touched the man's ear that Peter 
had struck with the sword, and made the place 
well again. 

Then the apostles were afraid that the band 
of men would ]3ut ropes, or fetters, on them 
too, and take them with Jesus, so they all left 
him and made haste to flee away. 

We have read how Jesus told them at the 
table, while they were eating the feast of the 
Passover together, that they would be tempted 
to leave him that night. But they said. No, 
we will never leave thee. And Peter said, 
Though all the rest should leave thee, I never 



308 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



will. But now Peter and all the others, went 
away and left him alone with his enemies. 

I have told you that some of the priests 
who stayed at the temple were called chief 
priests, because they were the chief, or prin- 
cipal ones. But there was one priest who 
was greater even than the chief priests; he 
was called the high priest. 

He was over all the other priests, and was 
a great man among the Jews, for he was one 
of the rulers of the peojole. And the men 
who had taken Jesus, brought him to the high 
priest's house, and all the chief priests and 
rulers of the Jews were there. 

Now when Peter saw the band of men lead- 
ing Jesus away from the garden, he followed 
them; yet he did not follow close after them, 
but a good way off, hoping no one would speak 
to him, or notice him. 

And when they brought Jesus into the high 
priest's house Peter came in too, and sat down 
with the servants by a fire that was burning 
there, and warmed himself He wanted to see 
what would be done to Jesus, but he did not 
want any one to know that he had been with 



310 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



him and was one of his disciples. While he 
was sitting there, a young woman who was a 
servant, came and looked at him and asked 
if he was not one of Jesus' disciples. Peter 
answered that he was not. 

And he rose up and went out on to the 
porch. And while he was there the cock 
crew; for it was now about the middle of the 
night. Presently another young woman saw 
him, and said to the men who were standing 
by. This fellow was also with Jesus. Peter 
said again, that he was not. 

After awhile another servant, who was a 
relation to the man whose ear he had cut off, 
came to Peter, and said. Did I not see thee 
with him in the garden? 

Then Peter pretended to be very angry at 
being asked so often if he was not with Jesus; 
and he said^ I do not know the man you are 
speaking about. And as soon as he said this, 
the cock crew a second time. 

Now Jesus was where he could hear Peter's 
words, and when he heard him say, for the 
third time, that he had not been with him, 
and was not his disciple, Jesus turned and 



THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 811 



looked at Peter. Peter saw that look, and it 
made him remember how Jesus had said, that 
before the cock should crow twice, he would 
say three times that he did not know him. 

When Peter remembered this and thought 
how wicked he had been, he went out of the 
house to a place alone and cried bitterly. 





CHAPTER XXII. 

NOW the high priest and the other men 
who were rulers over the Jews, used to 
meet together in a room near the temple. 

Here they held a Court, to try persons who 
had done any thing against the law, and when 
they had asked all about the things they had 
done, the rulers told those persons what their 
punishment must be. 

As soon as it was morning, they took Jesus 
before this Court. But instead of trying to 
find out whether he had really disobeyed the 
law, they brought false witnesses, or men who 
told lies about him. 

They did this because they wanted an excuse 
for punishing Jesus by putting him to death. 
But though many false witnesses came and 
spoke against him, they could not prove that 

312 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



3i: 



he had done any thing wrong. Then the 
high priest himself spoke to Jesus, and asked 




JESUS BBOUGHT BEFORE THE HIGH PKIEST. 

him if he was the Son of God. Jesus said 
that he was. And he told the high priest and 
the rulers, that at the Judgment Day, they 



314 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



should see him sitting at the right hand of 
God, and coming down to this world again in 
the clouds from heaven. 

Then the high priest was very angry, and 
said, that Jesus ought to be punished for 
saying he was the Son of God. And he 
asked the rulers in the court what his punish- 
ment ought to be. They all said that he 
ought to be put to death. 

Then they mocked Jesus and spat upon 
him. And they put a cloth, or bandage, 
around his eyes so that he could not see, 
and they struck him with their hands. Then 
they asked him who it was that struck him, 
for, they said, if he were the Son of God, he 
could tell who the person was without seeing 
him. 

Now the rulers of the Jews had dijBferent 
ways of punishing persons. But w^henever 
they wanted to punish a j^erson by putting 
him to death, they had to ask permission of 
the Roman governor. This governor was 
the one who had been sent to rule over the 
Jews by the emperor of Rome. For as 
we have read, the Jews were servants to 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 315 



a nation called the Komans. And they were 
not allowed to put any one to death without 
the Koman governor's consent. 

Therefore the rulers, and all the Jews who 
were in the court with them, rose up and took 
Jesus to the Roman governor, whose name 
was Pilate. When they had brought him into 
Pilate's house, they began to speak against him. 
They told Pilate that Jesus taught the Jews to 
disobey the Pomans, and that he said he was 
a king himself. 

Pilate asked him if he was a king. Jesus 
answered, I am. And yet, he said, he was 
not like the kings of this world. Jesus is not 
like the kings of this world, because he rules 
in the hearts of the people who love him, 
and has his kingdom there. 

And Pilate spoke to the Jews, and told them 
that although they had brought Jesus to him 
as a man who was wicked, yet when he had 
questioned him he could not find any fault in 
him. And Pilate said that Jesus had not done 
any thing for which he deserved to die. 

Now every year at this time, when the feast 
of the Passover was being held in Jerusalem, 



316 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



if any of the Jews were shut up in prison for 
disobeying the Komans, the Roman governor 
used to set one of them free. And he allowed 
the Jews to say which prisoner it should be. 
He did this to please them and make them 
willing to let him rule over them. 

And now, because it was the time for the 
Passover, the Jews came to Pilate and asked 
him to do as he had always done before, and 
set one of the prisoners free. Pilate asked 
them which one it should be; whether it 
should be Jesus. For Pilate knew they had 
brought Jesus to him, not because he had done 
wrong, but because they hated him and 
wanted to put him to death. 

While Pilate was speaking with the people, 
his wife sent him word not to do Jesus any 
harm, for she said, I have had a dream to- 
day about that good man which has troubled 
me and made me afraid. 

But the Jews did not want Pilate to set Jesus 
free, and when he asked them if he should 
do it, they answered. No, do not set Jesus free, 
but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a wicked 
man, who had been put in prison because he 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



317 



was a robber, and a murderer. Yet the Jews 
chose him as the one for Pilate to set free. 

Pilate said to them, What then shall I do 
with Jesus? And they all cried out, Crucify 
him, Crucify him. Pilate said, Why, what 
evil has he done? But they cried out the 
more. Crucify him. 

Now Pilate did not want to crucify Jesus, 
and yet he was afraid of displeasing the Jews 
by refusing to do as they asked him. So when 
they cried out to crucify him, Pilate took some 
water and washed his hands before all the 
people, and he said to them, I will have nothing 
to do with putting this good man to death; 
you are the ones to blame for it. 

Pilate meant by washing his hands, to put 
the sin away from himself, just as if it had been 
some spot that he could wash off with water. 
But washing his hands did him no good, for 
the sin was not on Pilate's hands; it was in 
his heart, because when he knew that Jesus 
was innocent, he would not let him go, but 
gave him up to be crucified. 

Now the Romans, before they crucified a 
man, used to scourge, or beat him. They took 



318 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



off his clothes down to his waist, and tied him 
to a low post or pillar, in such a way as made 
him stoop forward. And while he was stoop- 
ing they beat him cruelly on the back with 
rods or cords. 

Pilate, therefore, took Jesus and scourged 
him. Afterward the soldiers who were to put 
him to death, took him into a room in Pilate's 
house, and they called together all the soldiers 
that belonged to their band, or company. 
Then they began to mock Jesus. 

Because he had said he was a king, they 
took off his own coat and put on him a purple 
robe; for kings used to wear purple robes. 
And when they had plaited a wreath of thorns, 
they put it on his head instead of a crown. 
Instead of a golden sceptre, or rod, such as 
kings held when sitting on their thrones, they 
put a reed, or stick, in his right hand. 

Then they bowed down before him, pre- 
tending he was a king, and saying, Hail, King 
of the Jews ! And they spat on him, and took 
the reed from him and struck him on the head ; 
they struck him also with their hands. 

After all these things had been done to him, 




THE SOLDIERS MOCK JESUS. 



320 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



Pilate thought he would tell the Jews again, 
that Jesus did not deserve to die. For he 
hoped that now, after Jesus had been scourged 
and treated so cruelly, they would be willing 
to let him go free. 

Therefore Pilate brought Jesus out where 
the Jews could see him, with the crown of 
thorns on his head, and wearing the purple 
robe. And Pilate said to the Jews, I have 
brought him out to you to tell you, once 
more, that I find no fault in him. 

When the chief priests and all the Jews saw 
Jesus, they cried out, Crucify him, Crucify 
him. Pilate said to them, You may take 
him yourselves then and crucify him, for I 
do not find any fault in him. 

But Pilate ought to have told the Jews that 
thev should not harm Jesus; for he knew that 
he had not done any thing wrong. And 
Pilate was the governor and he had the power 
to set him free. Yet for fear the Jews would 
be displeased with him, and want some other 
man for their governor, he gave Jesus to them 
and sent soldiers also with them, to put him 
to death. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



321 



Now when Judas Iscariot, who betrayed 
him, saw that Jesus was really to die, he was 




PILATE BRINGS JESUS OUT BEFORE THE PEOPLE. 

greatly afraid for what he had done. And he 
came to the chief priests and rulers with the 

21 



322 THE STOBY OF THE GOSPEL. 



thirty pieces of silver, and wanted them to 
take the money back and let Jesus go; for he 
said, I have sinned in taking it, because I have 
betrayed a person who has never done any 
harm. But the chief priests and rulers an- 
swered him, saying, What is that to us ? Do 
thou attend to that. And they would not 
take the money from Judas, because they 
did not want to let Jesus go. 

Then Judas threw down the silver pieces on 
the ground and left them there. And he went 
away and hanged himself, by a cord, or rope, 
around his neck, until he was dead. But in- 
stead of doing this he should have repented, 
and then gone to Jesus and asked whether 
his great sin might be forgiven. 

We have read that when Peter had sinned, 
by saying he did not know Jesus, he repented 
and was so full of sorrow for what he had 
done, that he went to a place by himself and 
cried bitterly. And after that Peter loved 
and obeyed Jesus as long as he lived, and 
Jesus forgave him. 

But Judas did not love Jesus, or truly repent 
of his sin. It was because he was afraid, and 



324 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



could not bear to think of his own wickedness, 
that he went away and killed himself. 

After he was gone the chief priests picked 
up the silver pieces, and they bought with 
them a field, called the Potter's Field. And 
that field w^as used to bury strangers, who came 
to Jerusalem and died there, away from their 
homes and their friends. 

And the soldiers, after they had mocked 
Jesus, took off the purple robe from him, and 
put his own clothes on him. Then they led 
him away to crucify him. 

When a person was led out to be crucified 
he had to carry the cross he was to be nailed 
to. And because Jesus was too weak, after 
being scourged, to carry his cross alone, the 
soldiers made a man named Simon, whom 
they met on the road, help him carry it. 

And they brought Jesus to a place called 
Calvary, which was a little way from Jerusalem. 
There, although he had done no wrong, they 
nailed him to the cross, driving the great nails 
through his hands and his feet, and so they 
crucified him. 

While they were doing it he was patient, 




JUDAS HANQS HIUSELF. 



326 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



and meek, and instead of asking God to pun- 
ish them, he prayed for them, and said, Father 
forgive them, for they know not what they do. 
He meant that they did not know how great 
their sin was in putting him to death, or how 
dreadful the punishment for it would be. 

Even while they were putting him to death 
he loved them, and wanted to do them good 
instead of harm. 

And the soldiers gave him to drink some 
vinegar mixed with a bitter stuff called gall. 
They gave him this because it would make 
him sleep, and feel his pains less. 

But when he had tasted it he would not 
drink of it, for he did not want those pains 
made less, because he was bearing them for us, 
to save us from being punished forever. 

At the same time that they crucified Jesus, 
they crucified two men with him, one on a 
cross at his right hand, and another on a cross 
at his left. But these were wicked men ; they 
were thieves, who were being put to death for 
the wicked things they had done. 




JESUS IS NAILED TO THE CB0S8. 




CHAPTEK XXIII. 



NOW persons who were crucified did not 
die at once; they lived sometimes for 
many hours after they had been nailed to the 
cross. And so Jesus, although he was nailed 
to the cross in the morning, did not die until 
the afternoon. But all that time he hung 
there suffering bitter pain. 

And the soldiers who had crucified him sat 
down and watched him, so that no one might 
come and draw out the nails from his hands 
and his feet, and take him down from the cross. 

His clothes they took from him and divided 
among themselves; one soldier taking one part, 
and another soldier another part. But his coat 
they cast lots for, to see which soldier should 
take it. 

328 



THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 329 



And Pilate, the governor, made a writing, 
and had it fastened to the cross over the head 
of Jesus. These were the words that he wrote: 
Jesus of Nazaketh the King of the Jews. 
Many of the Jews read these words as they 
passed by. For the place where he was 
crucified was near the gate of Jerusalem, where 
the people went in and out of the city. 

As they looked uj) at Jesus they did not 
pity him, or try to help him, but they 
mocked him, saying. If he is the Son of God, 
let him come down from the cross, and then 
we will believe on him. And Jesus might 
have come down had he chosen to, but he chose 
to stay there and die for you and for me. 

And one of the thieves who were crucified 
with him, spoke wickedly to him; but the 
other thief repented of his sins and asked 
Jesus to forgive him and save him. And 
Jesus told the thief who repented, that on that 
very day, as soon as he died, he should go to the 
happy place where Jesus himself was going. 

Now Mary, the mother of Jesus, was stand- 
ing by his cross, and so was that apostle whom 
Jesus loved, the one who leaned on his breast 



330 THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 



at the table while Jesus and his apostles were 
eating the feast of the Passover. 

And because Jesus was going to die and 
leave his mother, he wanted that apostle to 
take care of her. Therefore Jesus spoke to 
him and told him to love Mary as much, and 
to be as kind to her, after he was gone away, 
as if she were his own mother. 

And he told Mary to let that apostle be the 
same to her as if he were her own son. From 
that hour that apostle, whose name was John, 
took Mary to his home to take care of her and 
give her every thing she needed. 

Now while Jesus was hanging on the cross, 
there came a great darkness over that land, 
and for three hours the sun did not shine there. 
Yet it was not in the night; it was in the 
middle of the day. But God sent that dark- 
ness because his Son was being put to death 
by wicked men. 

And Jesus cried out with a loud voice from 
the cross, to his Father in heaven, and asked 
his Father why he turned away from him as 
if he did not love him any more. 

You know that sometimes your father has 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 331 



turned his face away from you, and would not 
look at you, because he was displeased at your 
disobeying him. And so we believe that God 
was now turning away from Jesus. Yet Jesus 
had not disobeyed God. But we have done 
so, many times, and Jesus was taking the 
blame on himself. Therefore God turned 
away from him, the same as if Jesus him- 
self had sinned. When Jesus saw this it 
troubled him more than all the pains he 
had to bear, and he cried out for sorrow. 

And one of the men who stood near the 
cross, when he heard Jesus cry, took a piece 
of sponge and dipped it in vinegar and lifted 
it up on a long reed, or stick, to the mouth of 
Jesus, so that he could drink the vinegar. 

When he had drunk it, he said, It is fin- 
ished. He meant that all the punishment 
which he had come down from heaven to bear 
for us, and all the work that he had come to 
do, were finished. And he bowed his head 
and died. 

Then the ground shook, and the rocks 
underneath the ground were broken in pieces. 
And many graves in which good people were 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 333 



buried, opened, and those who were buried in 
them rose up and went into the city of Jeru- 
salem, and were seen alive there. 

When the soldiers who had nailed Jesus to 
the cross saw these wonderful things that 
happened when he died, they were afraid, and 
said, Surely this man was the Son of God. 

Now as we have read, Jesus was not cruci- 
fied in Jerusalem, but at a place called Calvary, 
that was a little way out of the city. Therefore 
the Jews who were in the city did not know he 
was dead. They knew he was nailed to the 
cross and that he must soon die, but they did 
not know he had died already. 

So some of them went to Pilate, the gover- 
nor, and asked him to send soldiers to kill 
Jesus and the two thieves that were crucified 
with him. They wanted them killed so that 
their dead bodies might be taken down from 
the cross and buried before the next day, for 
that was the Sabbath day. 

Then Pilate commanded some soldiers to go 
and do as the Jews asked him. And the 
soldiers went and broke the legs of the two 
thieves to kill them. But when they came to 



334 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



Jesus they found he was dead already; there- 
fore they did not break his legs. But one of 
the soldiers took a spear and thrust it into his 
side, and there came out blood and water. 

At the place where Jesus was crucified there 
was a garden, and in the garden was a new 
sepulchre, or burying-place, where no one had 
ever yet been buried. It was a cave hollowed 
out of a rock, and it belonged to a rich man, 
named Joseph, who came from a city called 
Arimathea. 

Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, and loved 
him, but before this time he had not let it be 
known, because he was afraid the Jews would 
be angry with him and do him some harm. 
But now, after Jesus was dead, Joseph would 
not keep it a secret any longer. And he went 
and begged Pilate to let him take the dead 
body of Jesus, so that he might bury it in his 
new sepulchre that was in the garden. 

Pilate gave him leave. And Joseph took 
the body of Jesus down from the cross, and 
wrapped it in some new, fine linen, that he had 
bought, and laid it in the sepulchre. Then he 
rolled a great stone to the door and shut up 



836 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



the sepulchre, and left the body of Jesus there. 
While Joseph did this, two women were sitting 
by the sepulchre, and they saw where the body 
of Jesus was laid. Both of these women were 
named Mary, and both of them were dis- 
ciples of Jesus. 

After they had seen where he was buried 
they went away to their own homes, to stay 
there the next day, for as we have read, that 
day was the Sabbath. But they intended to 
come back on the day after the Sabbath, with 
some ointments and spices to put on his body ; 
for the Jews used to put these on the bodies 
of persons whom they buried. 

Now when Jesus was laid in the sepulchre, 
some of the Jews went to Pilate, the governor, 
and told him that Jesus had said he would 
come to life again and rise up from the dead, 
on the third day after he was crucified. 

Therefore they asked Pilate to send soldiers 
to watch at the sepulchre, for fear some of the 
disciples might come in the night and steal his 
body away, and then go and tell the people he 
had risen up from the dead. 

And Pilate did as the Jews asked him; he 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 337 



sent soldiers who came to the sepulchre and 
stood by it to guard it. And after the sun 
had gone down and it grew dark, they stayed 
there to keep the friends and disciples of Jesus 
from coming near his grave. 

But in the night, while they were watch- 
ing, there was a great earthquake, and the 
ground where they stood was shaken. For 
God sent an angel down from heaven, and 
the angel rolled away the stone from the door 
of the sepulchre, and sat upon it. His face 
was bright, like lightning, and his garments 
were as white as snow. 

And the soldiers, though they were brave 
men, and not afraid to fight in battle, trembled 
when they saw the angel, and were filled with 
fear, so that they fell down and could not 
move, and were like dead men. 

Very early the next morning, as soon as it 
was light, the two women who sat by the 
sepulchre, and another woman with them, 
whose name was Salome, came bringing the 
spices and ointments which they had made 
ready to put on the body of Jesus. 

As they were coming they said to one 



22 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 339 

another, Who shall roll away the stone from 
the door for us ? For it was very great and 
heavy. But when they came to the sepulchre 
they saw that the stone was rolled away. 

Then they went into the sepulchre, and 
there they saw an angel dressed in long white 
garments. And the women were afraid. 

But the angel said to them, Be not afraid. 
You are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 
He is not here, he has risen as he said he would. 
Come and see the place where they laid him; 
and then go and tell his apostles that he has 
risen up from the dead. 

And the women went out quickly and made 
haste away from the sepulchre, for they were 
greatly afraid, and yet they were full of joy to 
know that Jesus had risen. 

As they went to tell the apostles, Jesus 
himself met them; and they bowed down 
at his feet and worshipped him. Then he told 
them not to be afraid, but to tell his apostles 
that they should go into that part of the land 
which was called Galilee, and there, he said, 
he would come and meet them. 

So the women went as Jesus commanded 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 341 

them, and they came to the apostles and told 
them that he was risen, and that they had seen 
him. But the apostles thought they were 
speaking only foolish and idle w^ords, and they 
did not believe them. 

Yet Peter and John, two of the apostles, 
made haste to the sepulchre. They ran, both 
of them together, but John ran faster than 
Peter and came first to the sepulchre. And 
he stooped down and looked in at the door, 
and saw the linen clothes which Jesus had 
worn, lying there, but he did not go in. 

But Peter, when he came, went into the 
sepulchre. And he saw the linen clothes and 
the napkin, or towel, which had been wrapt 
around the head of Jesus. This was not lying 
with the linen clothes, but was folded together 
in a place by itself 

Then when Peter had gone in, John went in 
after him and saw that Jesus was not there; 
and he believed that he had risen up from the 
dead. And the two disciples w^ent away to 
their own homes. 

Now after Jesus had risen, some of the 
soldiers who had guarded the sepulchre went 



342 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



to the chief priests in Jerusalem, and told them 
how the angel had come down from heaven and 
rolled away the stone from the door, and how 
Jesus had risen up from the dead. 

Then the chief priests told the soldiers not to 
tell this to the people, but to say, instead, that 
while they were asleep in the night the disciples 
of Jesus came and stole his body away. 

And the chief priests gave the soldiers a 
great deal of money for telling this untruth. 
They did so because they did not want the 
people to know that Jesus had risen up from 
the dead, for then they would believe in him, 
that he was the Son of God. 

So the soldiers took the money and did as 
the chief priests told them. Therefore ever 
since that time, the Jews have said that Jesus 
did not rise up from the dead at all, but that 
his disciples came in the night, while the 
soldiers were asleep, and stole his body away 
from the sepulchre. 



-H^ 




CHAPTEE XXIV. 



ON the same day that Jesus arose, two of 
his disciples were walking together to a 
village, named Emmaus, which was about seven 
miles from Jerusalem. And they talked with 
one another about the things that had happened. 

While they were talking together, Jesus 
came near and walked with them. But his 
face was changed so that they did not know 
him; they thought he was some stranger. 
And he asked them what they were talking 
about that made them look sad. 

Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, 
asked him if he was only a stranger in Jeru- 
salem that he had not heard of the things 
which had happened there. He said to them, 
What things? 

They told him how a great prophet, named 
Jesus, had been there and done miracles for 



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THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 345 



the people. Yet the chief priests, and rulers 
of the Jews had taken him and crucified him. 
And this is the third day, the disciples said, 
since he was crucified. Yes, and some women 
who belong to our company, and who have 
been to his sepulchre, made us astonished 
by saying that he was not there, and that they 
saw angels who told them he was alive. 

And some of the men, also, who were with 
us, went afterward to the sepulchre and found 
it was as the women had said; but they did 
not see him. 

While the two disciples were talking with 
Jesus, they came near to the village where they 
were going. Then Jesus Avalked on as though 
he would leave them and go further. But the 
disciples, because they thought he was some 
traveller on a journey, begged him to come to 
their house and stay with them that night, for 
they said. It is near evening and the day is 
almost gone. 

Then Jesus went with them into the house 
and supper was made ready for them there. 
And while they were at the table together 
he took bread in his hands, and when he had 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 347 



thanked God for it, he broke it in pieces and 
gave the pieces to the two disciples. 

But as he did this they knew him, and saw 
that it was Jesus. And then, in a moment, he 
was gone away out of their sight. 

Then they said to each other, Were not our 
hearts interested in the things that he spoke to 
us while he talked with us by the way? And 
they rose up quickly from the table and went 
back to Jerusalem, and came to the house 
where the apostles were. And they told the 
apostles how they had seen Jesus and talked 
with him, and how they had known him while 
he was breaking bread at the table. 

While the two disciples were telling the 
apostles of these things, suddenly Jesus him- 
self stood among them. And the apostles 
were afraid when they saw him, for they 
thought it was not Jesus, but a spirit. 

But he asked them why they were afraid ; 
he told them to touch him and see that it was 
he, himself. For he said that a spirit had not 
a body such as they saw he had. 

Then he showed them his hands and his 
feet with the marks of the nails in them. 



348 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



While they wondered and could hardly 
believe it was Jesus because they were so glad, 
he asked them if they had any food. And 
they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and 
some honey; and he ate these before them. 

When they saw him do this they knew it 
was not a spirit but Jesus himself 

Then he talked with the apostles and told 
them why he had died on the cross, and risen 
again on the third day. The reason was that 
unless he died for us, our sins could never be 
forgiven. But now after he had died for our 
sins, God was willing to forgive us, if we would 
only repent of those sins and obey Jesus. 

And because Jesus had died for all the people 
in the world, God was willing to forgive them 
all. Therefore Jesus wanted them all to hear 
about his death. And the apostles, he said, 
were the ones to go and tell about it. 

They were to tell, not only the Jews who 
lived in the land of Israel ; but they were 
to go over the whole world and tell every 
person. Then whoever repented of his sins 
and promised to love and obey Jesus, the apos- 
tles were to baptize. All those persons who 



THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 349 



obeyed liim and were baptized, Jesus said, 
should go up to Heaven after they died. But 
those who would not obey him, and were not 
willing to have him for their Saviour, should 
be shut out of Heaven forever. 

But one of the apostles, named Thomas, was 
not with the others when Jesus came. And 
afterward, when they told him they had seen 
Jesus, Thomas would not believe them. 

He said. Unless I shall see for myself the 
marks of the nails in his hands, and shall put 
my hand into the wound that the spear made 
in his side, I will not believe it was he. 
Thomas said this because he did not believe 
that Jesus had risen. 

After eight days the apostles were in a room 
together again, with the doors shut, and 
Thomas was with them. Then Jesus came 
and stood among them as he did before. 

Now he knew what Thomas had said: and 
he spoke to him, and told him to reach out 
his finger and touch the marks in his hands, 
and to reach out his hand and touch the wound 
in his side, and not to doubt any more, but to 
believe that he had risen up from the dead. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 351 



When Thomas heard his voice and knew 
that it was Jesus, he said to him, My Lord, 
and my God. 

Thomas called him this because Jesus is God. 
And his Father, who lives up in heaven, is 
God. And so is the Holy Spirit. These 
three are God. They are not three Gods, but 
the three together are one God. 

We cannot understand this, for we do not 
know enough to understand all the things 
about God. 

You know that your father has often told 
you things that you could not understand. He 
understood them, but you could not. Yet you 
believed them because he told them to you, 
and he said you would understand them after 
awhile, when you grew older. 

Now God tells us many things in the Bible 
about himself that we cannot understand. But 
we believe them because he tells them to us. 
And after awhile, when we die and go into 
that world where God is, we shall understand 
them better than we do now. 

To believe a thing that we cannot see or 
understand, just because God tells it to us, is to 



352 THE STOKY OF THE GOSPEL. 



have faith. And God wants us to have faith. 
But Thomas had not faith. He woukl not 
believe that Jesus had risen up from the dead 
until he had seen him. But Jesus told Thomas 
that those persons who were willing to believe 
this without seeing him, pleased God. 

After these things Peter and four more of 
the apostles were together by the sea of Galilee. 
And Peter said, I am going fishing. The others 
answered, We will go with thee. 

Then they went into a boat and sailed out 
on the sea, and let their net down into the 
water. And they fished all that night but 
caught nothing. 

When the morning had come, Jesus stood on 
the shore, and the apostles saw him, but they 
did not know it was Jesus. He asked them 
whether they had any fish. They answered, 
No. Then he told them to let down the net 
on the right side of the boat, and they should 
catch some. 

They did as Jesus commanded, and let 
down their net, but then they were not able to 
draw it up again because of the great number 
of fishes that were caught in it. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



353 



When the apostles saw this miracle which 
he had done for them, one of them said, It is the 




PETEE LEAPS INTO THE WATEK TO GO TO JESUS. 

Lord. Then Peter fastened his fisherman's 
coat around him and jumped into the sea, that 

23 



854 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



he might make haste to the shore. The other 
apostles came afterward, rowing the boat, and 
dragging the net full of fishes. 

When they came to the land they saw a fire 
burning there, with fish laid on it, and bread. 
And Jesus told them to bring some of the fish 
they had caught. 

Then Peter went and drew the net up out 
of the water on to the shore, and it was full of 
great fishes. There were a hundred and fifty- 
three of them, and yet, although there w^ere so 
many, the net was not broken. 

And Jesus said to his apostles. Come and 
eat. And he gave them some bread, and fish 
also ; but none of them dared to ask him who 
it was, for they knew it was the Lord. 

This was the third time he had shown him- 
self to them since he rose up from the dead. 
And not only to the apostles did he show hmi- 
self ; but after this he was seen by more than 
five hundred of his disciples at one time. 

At another time the apostles saw him on a 
mountain in Galilee, where he had promised 
to come and meet them. And when they saw 
him they bowed down and worshipped him. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 355 



Then he told them to go and teach the 
people of all nations. They were to teach 
them to be his disciples^ and to obey all the 
words he had spoken. 

And Jesus commanded the apostles, again, 
to baptize all those persons who promised to 
love and obey him. They were to baptize 
them in the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 

To be baptized in this name means, that we 
promise to love and obey God as our heavenly 
Father; and Jesus as our Saviour; and the 
Holy Spirit as our Teacher, who comes into our 
hearts and teaches us what God wants us to do. 

AYhen forty days were past, after he had 
risen from the dead, Jesus came again to the 
apostles in the city of Jerusalem. And he 
commanded them to stay in Jerusalem until 
God should send down the Holy Spirit to 
them from heaven. 

We have read how Jesus told the apostles, 
while they were eating the feast of the Passover 
together, that God would send the Holy Spirit 
to them after he was taken away from them, 
that is, after he was taken up to heaven. 



356 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



And now Jesus- was going to be taken up to 
heaven, and God was going to send the Holy 
Spirit to the apostles. And the Holy Spirit 
would stay with them always, and would make 
them remember every thing Jesus had told 
them; and would teach them, also, what they 
were to teach the people. 

After he had talked with them, Jesus led 
the apostles out of Jerusalem to the village of 
Bethany, which was not far off. When they 
came there he stopped, and lifted up his hands 
and blessed them. 

And as he was blessing them he was taken 
up from them toward the sky, and he went 
into a cloud and then they could not see him 
any more. 

While they were looking up after him, two 
angels in white garments came to them, and 
the angels told the apostles that Jesus had 
gone up in the clouds to heaven, but that he 
would come down in the clouds to the earth 
again. They meant that he would come down 
at the Judgment Day. 



358 THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



And now we have read The Story of the 
Gospel. Gospel, as you know, means good 
news. The good news of the Gospel is about 
Jesus, how he loved us, and came down from 
heaven to take away our sins, and to save 
us from being punished for them after we 
die. 

We have read how he was born as a little 
child, in the stable at Bethlehem, and after- 
ward lived with Mary, his mother, in the city 
of Nazareth until he grew up to be a man. 

How he was baptized by John in the river 
Jordan^ and was tempted by Satan in the 
wilderness. 

After that he went about doing good to the 
people, teaching them to repent of their sins 
and love and obey him. Then he died on the 
cross for them, and for us all, and was buried 
in the sepulchre, and rose up from the dead 
on the third day. 

And now he had done all those things for 
us that he came down from heaven to do. 
Therefore he went up to heaven again where 
he was before. And he is in heaven still, sit- 
ting by his Father's side. But he looks down 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 359 



from there and sees all the men, and women, and 
little children, who have promised to love and 
obey him. They need not be afraid, for he 
never forgets them. 

He hears them when they pray to him; lie 
keeps Satan from hurting them; he helps 
them to do right. And when they forget 
the promise they have made, and do what is 
wrong, as soon as they repent of their sin he 
asks God to forgive them. 

Jesus will stay in heaven until the Judg- 
ment Day. Then he will come down to this 
world once more. But he will not come then 
to suffer and die on the cross, as he did be- 
fore. He will come in his glory, and all the 
holy angels will be with him. 

And as we have been told, he will sit on 
his throne where every one can see him. And 
all the people who ever lived will rise up out 
of their graves and stand before him, for him 
to judge them. 

And he will separate them into two great 
companies. One company will stand on his 
right hand. They will be the righteous. The 
other company will stand on his left hand. 



360 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL. 



They will be the wicked. Then he will send 
the wicked away to be punished; but the 
righteous he will take up to heaven, where 
they will live with him, and with God and 
the holy angels forever. 




INDEX. 



^ PASS. 

Adam 8-15 

Andrew 79,80 

Angels 9,10,14 

Angels speak to shepherds 22 

Angels wait upon Jesus 62 

Angels at the sepulchre 339 

Angels, evil 10, 83 

Anna 38 

Anointing 285 

Apostles, called 108 

Apostles, sent out 161 

Arimathea 334 

B 

Baptism 53,355 

Barabbas 316 

Bartimeus 241,242 

Beatitudes 108-111 

Bethany 194, 247, 252 

Bethesda 99-103 

Bethlehem 18 

Bethsaida 173 

Betray 283 

Bier 122 

Burial , . . 214 

C 

Calvary 324 

Cana 63 

Capernaum 79 

Centurion 119-121 

Cleopas 343 

Commandment 264 

Communion 296 

Court 312 

Cross 241 

Crucifixion 324 

361 



362 INDEX. 

PAQB. 

Disciple „ <, , 63 

Dove 56 



Eastern beds 93 

Eastern houses 92 

Eastern tables 284 

Eden 8-14 

Egypt 32 

Emmaus 343 

Eve 8-15 

F 

Faith 94 

Frankincense 29 

G 

Galilee 72 

Gethsemane 302 

Gold 29 

Gospel 88 

H 

Herod, the Great 26-33 

Herod, his son . 67-72 

Herodias 68-71 

Holj^ Spirit, given in baptism 53 

Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus 56, 57 

Holy Spirit promised as comforter 299 

Hypocrites 95, 267 

I 

Israel, land of 16 

Israelites 26 

J 

James, the Apostle 80 

Jericho 190 

Jerusalem 24 

Jesus Christ is born • 18 

Jesus Christ worshipped by shepherds 24 

Jesus Christ worshipped by wise men 26-29 

Jesus Christ goes up to the Passover 44r-47 



INDEX. 363 

PAGK. 

Jesus Christ is baptized 55, 56 

Jesus Christ is tempted by Satan 58-62 

Jesus Christ changes water to wine 63 

Jesus Christ heals nobleman's son 75, 76 

Jesus Christ calls disciples 79-82, 108 

Jesus Christ casts out evil spirits 85, 87, 149, 150, 158, 169, 176 

Jesus Christ heals Peter's wife's mother 85 

Jesus Christ heals lepers 91, 188 

Jesus Christ heals man with palsy 92-96 

Jesus Christ heals man at pool of Bethesda . 99-103 

Jesus Christ heals man with withered hand 105, 106 

Jesus Christ heals Centurion's servant 119-121 

Jesus Christ raises son of widow of Nain 122-124 

Jesus Christ raises ruler's daughter 152-157 

Jesus Christ stills the storm 148, 168 

Jesus Christ heals sick woman 152, 153 

Jesus Christ heals the blind 158,173,205-210,241 

Jesus Christ feeds the multitude 163-165, 171 

Jesus Christ is transfigured 174 

Jesus Christ raises Lazarus 213-215 

Jesus Christ blesses children 238-240 

Jesus Christ enters Jerusalem 249-251 

Jesus Christ keeps the passover 291 

Jesus Christ washes disciples' feet 291 

Jesus Christ institutes the Lord's Supper 296 

Jesus Christ is betrayed 304-307 

Jesus Christ is taken to palace of High Priest 308 

Jesus Christ is mocked 314, 318 

Jesus Christ is taken before Pilate 315-320 

Jesus Christ is scourged 317, 318 

Jesus Christ is crucified 324-331 

Jesus Christ rises from the dead 337 

Jesus Christ appears to the women 339 

Jesus Christ appears to the disciples 343, 347, 349, 352 

Jesus Christ ascends into heaven 356 

Jews 26 

Joanna 124 

John the Baptist 47-57 

John the Baptist imprisoned by Herod 68 

John the Baptist beheaded 71 

John the Apostle, called 80 

John the Apostle given the care of the mother of Jesus 330 

John the Apostle visits the sepulchre » . 341 



364 INDEX. 

PAAS. 

Jordan 51 

Joseph 17,32,44 

Joseph of Arimathea 334 

Judas Iscariot complains of the waste of ointment 285 

Judas Iscariot bargains with the chief priests 287, 288 

Judas Iscariot betrays his Master 306 

Judas Iscariot hangs himself 322 

Judgment Day 10, 11, 281 

K 

Killing of first-born 40 

Knowledge, tree of 9 

L 

Lazarus 213-215,249,284 

Lazarus, the beggar 232 

Leprosy 89 

Locusts 48, 50 

Lord's Prayer 197-203 

Lord's Supper 296 

M 

Martha 194,213,283 

Mary, the Virgin, Jesus' birth foretold to 16 

Mary, the Virgin, gives birth to the Saviour 18 

Mary, the Virgin, goes up to the feast 44 

Mary, the Virgin, stands by the cross 329 

Mary Magdalene 124, 336 

Mary of Bethany 194,213,283 

Matthew 98 

Miracle 65 

Mount of Olives 249 

Myrrh 29 



Nain 122 

Nazareth 34 

Nets 79 

Nicodemus 65 

O 

Ointment 285 

Olives. Mount of 2i9 



INDEX. 365 

p 

PAGB. 

Palsy 92 

Parable 124 

Parable of the two houses 117, 118 

Parable of the rich man 126 

Parable of the sower 131-133 

Parable of the tares and wheat 134,135 

Parable of the mustard-seed 138 

Parable of the leaven 140 

Parable of the merchantman 142 

Parable of the fisherman 144 

Parable of the unforgiving servant 183 

Parable of the good Samaritan 190 

Parable of the great supper 219 

Parable of the lost sheep . 223 

Parable of the lost piece of money 223 

Parable of the Prodigal Son 225 

Parable of the rich man and Lazarus 232 

Parable of the Pharisee and Publican 236 

Parable of the vineyard 254 

Parable of the wedding-feast 259 

Parable of the ten virgins 272 

Parable of the talents 275 

Passover 39,48,289 

Pearls 142 

Peter, is called 79 

Peter walks on the water 167 

Peter takes money from fish's mouth 179 

Peter cuts oflf servant's ear 307 

Peter denies his Master 310 

Peter visits the sepulchre 341 

Peter leaps into the sea to go to Jesus 353 

Pharaoh 39-41 

Pharisees 95,112,267 

Pilate 315-320,329,333 

Potter's field 324 

Priests 191 

Priests, chief 287 

Priests, high , 308 

Prophet : 47 

Publicans 98,244 

R 
KecliPing at meals 284 



366 INDEX. 



PASB. 

Romans 98,244 

Roofs 92 

S 

Salome 69-72 

Salome 337 

Samaritans 187 

Satan 10-13 

Satan tempts Jesus 58-62 

Scourging 317,318 

Scribes 95,112,267 

Sermon on the Mount 108-118 

Serpent 11 

Sheep-gate 99 

Shepherds 20-24 

Shepherds, the good 210, 211 

Simeon 36 

Simon 324 

Siloam 205 

Sychar 72 

Synagogues 77 

T 

Temple, 36 

Temptation 58 

Thomas 349,351 

Tribute-money 98 

Trinity 351 

U 
Uzziah 89 

V 
Vineyard 254 

W 

Walls 99 

Wells 73 

Wilderness 48 

Wine-press 254 

Wise men 26 

Z 
Zacebeus 245 

SLBCTBOTYPES BY hlACKKLL^B, SMITHS A JORDAN, rBILADBLFHIA. 



THE POPULAR 

"STORY O F THE BIBL E" SERIES. 

OVER one million books of this well-known series have 
been sold and the demand for them steadily increases. 
Their great popularity is due to their clear and interesting 
style, numerous and beautiful pictures, attractive bindings 
and moderate price. 

They are undoubtedly the best books from which to 
easily obtain a knowledge of the Bible. Being adapted to 
various ages they afford the youngest readers the entertain- 
ment of the most interesting story, while bringing into 
plain view, and presenting in the form of an attractive 
modern book all the thrilling incidents of Bible history. 
No subjects unsuitable for children are to be found in them. 
The books are used in the families of well-known and emi- 
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Introducing these books into the homes of this country 
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The useful and interesting character of the books insures 
consideration to the agent offering them. Their value can 
be seen at a glance and inexperienced persons who have 
never before attempted canvassing frequently secure nu- 
merous orders. 

Charles Foster Publishing Co., 716 Sansom St, Philadelphia, Pa. 



STORY OF THE BIBLE 

FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION. 

Told in Simple Language. Adapted to all Ages, but Especially 
TO the Young. A Book of 704 Pages. 300 Illustrations. 

By CHARI^ES FOSTER. 



INTERESTING AS A STORY BOOK. 



MORE THAN 700,000 SOLD. 

OF all the books in the world the Bible holds first place ; but while 
this is a truth admitted by everyone, there are few, perhaps, who 
■read it through understandingly, and with the same interest they 
would a modern book. The reason is that parts of the Bible are not 
-plain to the average reader ; the words sometimes differ from those 
now in common use, and the verses seem a little unfamiliar to modern 
■eyes. From this cause and others many people even look upon the Bible 
:as dry, and hard to read — though the teaching which it gives, and the 
rstories which it tells, are more inspiring than anj^thing else ever written. 
Now the book, called " THE STORY OF THE BIBI,E," gives the 
'W^hole Bible from beginning to end, in a connected storj^, and in the 
Iform of a beautiful, modern book. It is printed in short words, easy to 
read and understand — made still clearer by 300 artistic pictures 
which illustrate the scenes of Scripture. The "STORY OF THE 
BIBIvE " is not only a most attractive and interesting^ book to read, 
but it affords children, and grown persons as well, the best and surest 
means of getting a good, general knowledge of the Bible. It is not one 
of the common, incomplete, hastily-written " Bible Story Books," which 
contain only such parts of the Bible as can be most readily reprinted 
with little change or trouble. The " STORY OF THE BIBI.E " is a full, 
complete, easy- reading version of tlie wliole Bible, from begin- 
ning to end — each chapter in its proper order — from Genesis to Revela- 
tion, No other such book contains so much of the real substance of the 
Scriptures, plainly yet reverentially told. It is not stories abont the 
Bible, but the Bible itself in a form every reader can understand. 

Charles Foster Publishing Co., 716 Sansom St., Philadelphia, Pa. 



THE STORY OF THE GOSPEL 

^ By CHAKXKS FOSTKR. 

366 Pages; 150 Illustrations. 

THE CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST, 

Printed in short words ; easy to read and understand. 



THIS beautiful little book contains the New Testament in a 
continuous story, in words children can understand — 
with 150 pictures illustrating all the principal scenes. 
The events of the Gospels are not repeated, but told in 
their proper order, making one full, complete and interest- 
ing Story of the Liff of Christ. 

The book also gives all the instruction needful to enable 
a child to understand the principles of the Christian faith. 
It opens with the story of the Creation, and tells of Adam 
and Eve in the Garden of Eden ; how they are tempted 
to disobedience — their sin, its consequences to mankind, 
and the need of redemption through Christ. This is told in 
the plainest and simplest way, interesting to every child. 
Then follows the Story of Christ's life ; the Angki, 
appears to Mary, and the holy child is born in the stable 
at Bethlehem. When grown to manhood Jesus is bap- 
tized by John The Baptist and begins His mission on earth. 
He chooses His twelve ApostlES ; performs many miracles — 
heals the sick and raises the dead. The wonderful s<oiy 
closes with the crucifixion, resurrection from the tomb and 
ascent to heaven. 

The value of this book to parents and teachers, who wish 
to instruct young persons in the truths of the Bible can 
scarcely be overestimated. Its very general use, and sale 
of more than S00,000 copies is proof of its merit and 
popularity 

Charles Foste" Publishing Co , 716 Sansom St., Philadelphia, Pa. 



FIRST STEPS 

For Little Feet, in Gospel Paths, 

By CHART.es foster, 

Author of '^The Story of the Bible," Etc. 
328 Pages ; 148 Illustrations. 



THIS book has been most carefully prepared to give 
Little Children their first lessons in the Bible. 

It is printed in such short, easy words, and tells 
with such clearness and simplicity the precepts of Chris- 
tian faith that litile ones of five and six years of age can 
understand and learn from it. 

In the opening pages the meaning, or moral of 
the lessons is at first made clear to childish minds by 
using familiar objects of every-day life in picture and 
story. As the book advances the Bible Stories are 
gradually brought in, and the little hearers thus carried 
•along through the Gospels — being made familiar with 
the chief incidents of Christ's Life on Earth, and 
the lesson to be drawn from it. A list of questions is 
printed after each chapter so easy to answer that the 
little hearers, if attentive when the passage is read, may 
readily reply to them. 

No elementary work of this kind ever before pub- 
lished is so simply written and so well adapted to 
childish minds. *' FIRST STEPS" is an invaluable 
aid to parents, and teachers of Infant Schools and 
Kindergarten. So great is the demand for it that 
more than 140,000 copies have been sent out. 
Charles Foster Publishing Co., 716 Sansom St., Philadelphia, Pa. 



BIBLE PICTURES 



WHAT THEY TEACH US. 

A Book Containing 400 Illustrations of Scenes in the Old and 
New Testaments, with Brief Descriptions. 320 I^arge Pages. 

By CHARLES FOSTER, 

Author of the "Story of the Bible," Etc. 

T^HE COLLECTION OF BIBLE PICTURES contained in this book 
^ is probably one of the most complete that has ever been brought 

together in one volume. 

In preparing the work, the greatest care has been obser\'ed to use 
only such designs as will ADEQUATELY ILLUSTRATE THE BIBLE 
SCENES and fittingly portray the principal events in Bible history. 

It has been a matter of great difiiculty to obtain so large a number 
of pictures of the necessary merit, as illustrations of Bible subjects pre- 
sent peculiar difficulties to the artist. While preserving the freedom of 
style and vigor of treatment necessary to give life to his designs and 
reality to the varied scenes of the Scripture narrative, he must preserve 
for them a feeling of reverence and endow them with a dignity worthy 
of their sacred character. 

A large number of the pictures in this book are reproduced from 
designs by foreign artists, who have been celebrated for their skill in 
this branch of art. Others are by artists in this country. Most of the 
pictures were personally selected by, or else drawn under the direction 
of, the author, who spent years of labor and thousands of dollars in 
forming this collection. 

The book forms a COMPLETE PICTORIAL HISTORY of the main 
portion of the Bible. Many parts are so fully illustrated that the narra- 
tive can be followed, and understood, by merely looking at the series of 
pictures which illustrate them, so that CHILDREN UNABLE TO READ 
may obtain a fair idea of the nature and sequence of Biblical events by 
turning over the pages. 

Charles Foster Publishing Co., 716 Sansom St., Philadelphia, Pa. 



BIBLE MODELS: 



OR, 



The Shining Lights of Scripture, 

A BOOK FOR THE YOUNG. 

By Rev. RICHARD NEWTON, D. D. 

Bible Instruction Made Easy and Interesting. 



536 Pages and 100 Beautiful Engravings 
from Pictures by Famous Artists. 



THE author of " BIBI^E MODEIvS"— Dr. Richard 
NkwTon — was for many years rector of one of the 
principal churches of Philadelphia. He was cele- 
brated as a speaker to large audiences of young people, and 
for his ability to inspire in them habits of thought and rules 
of conduct leading to success and happiness in after life. 
This book is the product of his long experience. 

The Sunday-school of Dr. Newton's Church being 
well filled and flourishing, it was not unusual for him to 
talk to as many as 500 chii^dren at one time, who listened 
attentively to his graphic descriptions of Bibi,e Scenes 
and to the excellent stories with which he exemplified them. 
No persuasion ever was necessary to induce young people to 
come to these lectures ; for the speaker's delightful fund of 
anecdote and story, collected during a life-time of active and 
earnest woik in the ministry, aptly illustrated the Bible 
lessons as he carried them onward, and made clear and plain 
to childish minds the truths of the Gospel. 

This book, "BIBLE MODELS," containing the author's 
BEST THOUGHTS and most interesting experiences, is a most 
delightful and useful work. It resembles no other book on 
ihe Bible ever written, but has a character and originai,- 
ITV all its own. 

Charles Foster Pub fishing Co., 716 Sansom St, Philadelphia, Pa. 



THE PEEP OF DAY 

OR, 

MORNING LIGHT ON GOSPEL PATHS. 

Religious and Moral Instruction in the 
simplest form for infant minds, with an outline ot 

THE NEW TESTAMENT STORY. 

288 Pages. no Illustrations. 



THIS is a book for very small children, which both inter- 
ests and instructs them. It is so easy to understand 

that even little tots of the nursery enjoy being taught 
from it, and read it for themselves. 

Mothers with young children have daily need for a 
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that no explanations are required, and which contains 
answers to the many puzzling questions so often asked by 
little learners. 

The "J^EEP OF Day" exactly supplies a mother's 
needs, for it is intended to be the child's first book. By 
means of short readings from it, the infant m.ind may 
gradually be enlightened by those important truths — the 
difference between right and wrong, love and gratitude to 
parents, and reverence toward Heavenly things. These 
first lessons toward the forming of character are so charm- 
ingly taught by the " Pekp oe Day" that children are 
interested and amused, as well as instructed. 

Many original VERSES and Rhymes, which little 
readers can quickly learn by heart, are mingled with the 
lessons, and add to the attractions of the volume. 

Charles Foster Publishing Co., 716 Sansom St., Philadelphia, Pa. 



BIBLES. 

In all Sizes of Type and Every Style of Binding. 

FAMILY BIBLES, containing both the New and Old 
Versions printed in Parallel Columns, Pronounc- 
ing Text, Hundreds of Illustrations, Bible Dictionary and 
Special Features; at LOWEST PRICES. Also Medium 
Sized Bibles, Leather and Cloth Bindings, in great variety. 
SELF-PRONOUNCING OXFORD TEACHERS' BIBLES, 
containing the Old and New Testaments, with references, 
Concordance, Bible History, Maps, Valuable Index, etc., etc., 
also "HELPS TO THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE," writ- 
ten by eminent Biblical Scholars, for the special purpose of 
imparting to Students and Teachers a fuller understanding 
of the Scriptures. 

THE 

Pilgrim's Progress. 

By JOHN BUNYAN. 

A Superb New Edition, Printed in I,arge Plain Type and 

Containing One Hundred and Seventy Illustrations ; 

With a IvIFE of the Author (also Illustrated.) 



This elegant new edition will delight all lovers of beau- 
tiful books. Apart from the interest of the wonderful Alle- 
gory, the beauty and historic accuracy of the One Hundred 
AND Seventy Superb Ii^lustrations, delineating as they 
GO modes of dress and customs of two centuries ago — as well 
as presenting to the eye all the stirring incidents of the 
story — must prove a constant source of entertainment and 
delight to readers old and young. 
Charles Foster Publishing Co., 716 Sansom St, Philadelphia, Pa, 








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